We are now six months into one of the strangest years in living memory. The team at Eskenzi has never for a second lost its enthusiasm, but we would be lying if we didn’t acknowledge that it took a bit of adjusting and a lot of resilience to overcome the many obstacles along the way. We could no longer shout out to each other from one end of the room to the other in our bright North London office, for starters. We saw some clients we loved working for regretfully having to reduce their PR activities, others having to leave the Eskenzi family altogether. Thankfully, others soon came on board and kept us busy with new campaigns, PR planning and media trainings.
But while we had a little more time on our hands, we decided it was the right time to give something back to some amazing organisations and individuals that during this seemingly never-ending lockdown were trying to make the difference in people’s lives, in one way or another. Here’s a roundup of what the team has been working on – hopefully you’ll be inspired by these interesting projects:
Dr. Julia Jones’ is on a mission to bring music to your workplace
Dr. Jones is a force of nature. She prefers to go by Dr. Rock, and with over 25 years of experience in researching the effect of music on the human brain and a couple of books under her belt (her latest book, “The Brain Rocks”, is coming out in September), she was looking to amplify the impact of her campaign to bring music to the workplace and to healthcare settings.
“The simple act of placing headphones over the ears and pressing play on a focus or anti-anxiety soundscape will swiftly synchronise brainwaves, regulate breathing, lower heart rate, reduce blood pressure and induce a meditative state that reminds us that life is good. We’ve been seeing highly effective results with the soundscapes we’ve been road testing with remote workers and the INSEAD MBA class during lockdown,” she explains.
Needless to say, the team had to fight over who would champion this project and ensure that Julia’s message would be heard by as many people as possible. Leveraging the 80th anniversary of the iconic BBC’s Music While You Work, we were able to set up Julia for an interview with Dominic King at BBC Radio 3. Her insights on how to ease workers’ return to their offices were featured on the Times’ Raconteur and, thanks to a collaboration with Dominic Mohan Media, her piece on the health benefits of music appeared on The Sun and Music Week.
Free mental health educational resources for teachers thanks to stem4
stem4, a London based, award winning charity that supports teenage mental health education in secondary schools, have developed Head Ed: a free platform for educators to find mental health literacy teaching resources.
The British government addressed the concerns surrounding the discussion of mental health by mandating Relationships Education, Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) and Health Education statutory guidance to start in September 2020. The Eskenzi team has decided to get involved in stem4’s exciting and ever so needed project by drafting and distributing the Head Ed launch announcement, which will be available to teachers across the country in the coming weeks. Stay tuned!
Songs of Solidarity
You may have never heard the name before, but Osman Kavla is one of Turkey’s most celebrated activists and philanthropists.
Sadly, Osman was arrested in 2017 after the Turkish administration accused him of plotting a coup against Turkey’s government following an environmental demonstration in 2013. After countless petitions and motions were filed for his release, and reinstation of his most basic human rights, Osman was continuously held in pretrial detention.
As you read this, Osman is approaching a grim milestone of 1,000 days in Turkish prison. During his time in isolation, Osman was given a salad that contained two snails. Despite the obvious sanitation infringement, these two “humble gastropods” brought something that Osman had been denied: company. The snails lived in the cell with Osman as he was subjected to solitary confinement. On the day of his short-lived release, Osman took the snails with him as a memory of the torturous tenure in Turkish prison. When rearrested, Osman entrusted his slimy shelled comrades to his lawyer. Now, the snails are free; but Osman is not.
The company provided by these two snails created a much-needed connection that has inspired artistic and altruistic movements across the globe. A unique video opera entitled Osman Bey and the Snails was released and Eskenzi championed the promotion of this opera to raise important awareness of Osman’s dedication to human rights. Watch it here: https://youtu.be/IjV-9eMr8oExs
White Hat, Purple Hair
At Eskenzi PR & Marketing, we are passionate about making the world a better place. That’s why we decided to step forward and be the change we want to see in the world. This lockdown period has been stressful for everyone, but for children and young adults in precarious or abusive homes it has been infinitely more unbearable. Tragically, a report of child abuse is made every ten seconds.
That’s why we are raising money for NSPCC’s Childline, to help give a voice to the voiceless. Raising £500 will provide the funds to run the helpline service for one hour. That’s 60 minutes where a child can be heard. While this may not seem like a lot, every moment can be life changing for a child in crisis.
In order to raise vital funds for NSPCC’s Childline, everyone in the Eskenzi PR & Marketing family, from top to bottom, are dying our hair purple. We encourage you to join, either by donating money, or supporting with a streak in your own hair.
Let’s show the world that the cyber-community is just that – a community, and a family. Every contribution has the potential to change lives, no matter how small.
Join us as we make a difference and break the cycle. No voice should go unheard.
#WhiteHatPurpleHair
