I met a woman in Boots yesterday while putting posters up. Her name tag said Meg, but having worked for companies before I know they sometimes print the wrong names, which is how I ended up as Craig for a while. I told her what I was doing and though she couldn’t put up the poster, it was an amazing conversation. Her boyfriend had cancer as a child and spent a lot of time at the hospital.
It’s amazing how beloved local institutions enliven us all. I noticed while putting out promotional material people’s eyes lit up to hear about donations for the Edinburgh Sick Kids Hospital. It makes perfect sense as so many of us have either been in there for procedures or have known people who’ve been in for significant medical work. It’s been very humbling to receive support and donations and I’d like to say today how it fits into my broader idea for what I’m doing.
While putting together my tour for the charity, part of my broader launch into independent guiding, I have been motivated by a desire to do something good. Good for Edinburgh’s Children’s Hospital (the Sick Kids), and good for the local community. This means thinking as locally as possible and this extends to buying locally.
For graphic design I went to Jack Brady, who I’ve known for about a year. He’s based in Fife (Baby Reindeer Scotland), though I have known his partner for several years now. I like Jack’s work. He brought the heart of our logo to life so I will always have a lot of affection for him.
For badges, I went to Edinburgh Badge Makers, an Edinburgh based company. Fiona is a star and was able to make 200 badges within a couple days of our initial conversation. I like badges as a gift for people on my tour as they are a cute send off to remember the experience. Not everyone wears badges but even if they wind up in some cupboard somewhere or part of a scrapbook or in a random pocket of a suitcase, the memory remains. This is the second run of them I’ve done, this time it has the name on it, and I anticipate with regular new designs they could end up becoming a collectible of sorts so hold onto yours! It’s the new Beanie Baby.
And for leaflet and poster printing, I went to Pace Print. They were able to fulfil my order of posters and leaflets within a couple of hours and the best part is they gave me it for less than half the regular price! This is the power of local links. Businesses are run by people and those people have their own stories and motivations, too, beyond just money.
So essentially, this has been a great experience in connecting with people. As a professional storyteller, I always want to get to know what binds people to this city and ties us all together. A big part of that is our collective love of helping each other out. Caring for the sick. Helping the wounded. When better than Christmas and where better than locally?
It was a delight speaking to people in the city centre yesterday and I’m hoping to see more tomorrow (15th December 2024) at the event itself! There’s still space available so you can book right here to come along. Alternatively, if you’d like to donate anything I’ve set up this donation link on Facebook and it’s already cleared £400. Regardless of if you can make it, I hope you have a very, Merry Christmas!
The writer of this piece’s Christmas is going to be amazing
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