Nicola is going on maternity leave in the new year, so the man in charge will be Bill Hilton. Drop him a line in 2010 if you need a copywriter or editor.

Here’s to a great 2010 for us all!

This week I got an email from Sam and Helen letting me know that the little I gave made a big difference…

“We just wanted to write and thank you so much for the money you gave us at the start of the year to sponsor the creche provision at our meetings. We have just had our last meeting of 2009 and it has been an amazing year - with growing membership numbers, lots of local PR, running 3 start-up events and introducing drop-in business surgeries to our monthly schedule. Next year we are changing our meeting venue, from a local community hall to the town’s international athletics stadium, which will give us a much higher profile locally. And because of the demand from other business mums, in January we will be expanding into 2 other counties, with a view to getting groups running in 10 counties by the end of the year.

The leap of faith you took with us and our idea all those months ago was incredibly generous, and your donation really helped to ease our cash flow throughout the year. We really can’t thank you enough - but we will try to, by following your example and helping out another business mum at the start of her journey one day soon.”

Just shows you one person can make a difference.

http://freelancefolder.com/seven-lies-freelancers-tell-themselves/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QAbVLWata4Y

I’m ashamed to say in my nearly 5 years of living in the shadows of the impressive viaduct I’ve never attended a local meeting of creatives. I’m involved in the vibrant Manchester creative scene but poor Stockport always seems to play second fiddle, despite having an impressive array of museums, creative industries and cracking businesses.

But it looks as though things are changing. Last night the stage (well Stockport Art Gallery) was given over to Stockport College and Thoughtful Ideas agency, and their Thoughtful six project.

This is seriously different - it’s not work experience, it’s not crappy placements where you get shoved in the corner, filing and making cups of tea.

Thoughtful have relocated for the next few months to Stockport College, and effectively taken on six new employees in the shape of six students who will help them run the company. Really. They’ve already been involved in creating work and delivering pitches. And not to any old companies - organisations like the Tate Liverpool and Howies.

I’m often approached by graduates looking for writing jobs, and much like in the design industry they are often creatively brilliant but lack the ’soft’ skills needed in business. The concept of deadlines, answering a phone, putting on a smart shirt, pitching, responsiveness, just pass them by. And as a small business I often don’t have time to teach them, much as I wish I could. So it is really inspiring to see the worlds of education and creativity coming closer together.  The end result of the project (apart from the amazing experience the students get to put on their CV) will be a guide to the creative industries.

The most impressive part of last night? The Thoughtful guys seem to be learning as much from the students as they are teaching.