Five charities have benefited from airtime donated by Celton Manx.

Campaigns for the Alzheimer’s Society, the British Red Cross, Crossroads Care Young Carers Project, Samaritans and Tabitha’s Trust were broadcast on Manx Radio between December 2014 and early March this year, since when the charities have been reflecting on what have been wholly positive outcomes from the radio commercials.

Alzheimer’s Society Isle of Man services manager Grahame Bell said: ‘The opportunity to have a series of professionally made radio commercials was extremely welcome for our charity in the Isle of Man.

‘The content and vocal delivery were perfect for our needs and have helped to raise the profile of the Alzheimer’s Society and dementia issues in the Island.

‘It is still early days, however we have received contacts from carers of people living with dementia as a direct result of the radio commercial, and this has enabled us to give help to those who otherwise might not have known where to go.’

British Red Cross island development manager Adriana Watson said:  ‘The campaign raised public awareness – a good number of people mentioned to me they’d heard the radio commercial – and enquiries we received have led to our recruiting some new volunteers. We’re very happy with the response and grateful to Celton Manx for providing us with the opportunity to raise our profile.’

Crossroads Young Carers development worker Tim Jones said: ‘Over the past three weeks I have seen quite a sharp rise in the number of new referrals I have been receiving for Young Carers in the island. After Christmas it was averaging about one to two a week but over the last three weeks that has more than doubled to around four to five a week and several of these referrals have been made as a result of hearing the radio commercial.

‘So a big thank you to Celton Manx as the campaign helped me to reach more and more families to get appropriate support in place for them and the young carer(s) in the families, as well as raise more awareness of the project across the island.

‘It can be hard trying to raise awareness as I work alone full-time on this project - the only one of its kind on the island - so the radio campaign really helped spread the word about what we are trying to achieve.’

For Samaritans the campaign also proved valuable. The charity’s local publicity officer said: ‘We were delighted with the radio commercial - the content and tone of voice were perfectly pitched - and the occasional late-night slot was especially useful. We’ve had many people tell us they heard the radio commercial and it’s certainly helped raise awareness, so we’re extremely grateful to Celton Manx for this valuable support.’

For Tabitha’s Trust founder Victoria Kissack the radio commercial also helped raise the charity’s profile. She said: ‘The campaign happened to coincide with a number of events we’d arranged and it was surprising just how many people said they had heard the radio commercial, many of whom had previously not been aware of Tabitha’s Trust, so found it a comfort that such an organisation existed.

‘Feedback has been extremely positive, right down to the production quality and how sensitively such an emotive message was conveyed, so we are enormously grateful to Celton Manx for their generosity and practical support.’

Celton Manx executive director Bill Mummery said: ‘We are delighted that donating these radio slots has proved of such benefit to these five charities. An abiding aim of our social responsibility agenda is to listen then respond to the needs of good causes in ways which are not always monetarily driven but still have the power to help turn people’s lives around. In so doing we hope to lend visibility to the valuable work local good causes are doing and unlock opportunities for their voices to be heard so that they may reach as many people as possible. As a business with a strong belief in “being a good neighbour” we see this as fundamental to connecting with communities, encouraging local action and helping to create a fairer, more inclusive society.’

Photo - Celton Manx executive director Bill Mummery. Picture Marianne McCourt.