Canon UK Press Release

PORTMEIRION LAUNCHES NEW CELEBRITY FUND RAISING MUGS FOR PINK RIBBON FOUNDATION & 2005 BREAST CANCER AWARENESS

UK tableware manufacturer Portmeirion has joined forces with two of the UK’s brightest young female performers, Joss Stone and Natasha Bedingfield, to once again support the Pink Ribbon Foundation and Breast Cancer Awareness, with the launch of two new Good Times fund-raising mugs for 2005.

In times of adversity, positive thought can have a powerful effect, whether it be a person, a place or a thing that reminds us of a good time in our lives. With generous support from Canon (UK) Ltd, a leader in imaging technology, Joss Stone and Natasha Bedingfield were given a Canon Digital IXUS 40 camera and asked to take a picture of something that reminded them of a good time. Both stars have provided exclusive photographs, one showing the excitement of performing at Live 8, the other showing the serenity of a stunning beach scene - revealing just how personal good times can be. These two new Good Times mugs for 2005 will join the most popular mugs from 2004, which will be re-released. The mugs feature images by Sir Alan Parker, Annie Lennox, Tracey Emin, Sir Terence Conran, Tom Dixon, Anthony Minghella, Tamzin Outhwaite, Frank Skinner, The Thrills, Ian Wright and Joan Collins.

12,800 women die of breast cancer every year – a truly shocking death rate that simply does not need to continue. Out of the 39,200 women that are diagnosed with breast cancer each year, with proper awareness, the survival rate is high.  Of those women diagnosed, 74% will still be alive five years after being diagnosed. We are really pleased that so many male celebrities have chosen to get involved with the project, highlighting that men are not safe from this killer either as 300 are diagnosed a year with breast cancer in the UK alone. 

The Good Times mugs will go on sale from October 2005, Breast Cancer Awareness month. Portmeirion will donate to the Pink Ribbon Foundation, £1 from the trade price of each mug sold.
www.portmeirion.co.uk 01782 743456  

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:-
Antonia Methuen or Robin Davies at magnificent
T 020 7727 3999 F 020 7727 6565 E [email protected]

The Pink Ribbon Foundation
The Pink Ribbon Foundation (Reg. Charity No. 1080839) is a grant making trust with a mission to fund projects and provide financial support to UK charities which relieve the needs of people who are suffering from, or who have been affected by, breast cancer or who work to advance the understanding of breast cancer, its early detection and treatment. There are a large number of such charities in the UK, each as deserving as the next. Many of the charities The Pink Ribbon Foundation supports are the smaller ones, which operate on a shoestring.

A main source of the Foundation’s income comes from the sale of inthePINK magazine during Breast Cancer Awareness Month in October; the charity gets all publisher profits from every copy sold as well as a percentage of the advertising profits. The charity has also had funds raised for it by some wonderfully generous organisations. The Pink Ribbon Foundation has very little infrastructure. It relies on hard work freely given by Trustees (they don’t even claim expenses), interested parties and its Patrons. They do this in order to maximise the amount, which goes to the charities which benefit from the funds they raise.

The Foundation is impartial and is committed to bringing together individuals, charities and organisations, so they might be better equipped to fight this terrible disease together. Every year the Foundation invites charities concerned with breast cancer to apply for grants from the money raised. Operating in this way allows the Foundation to help charities both large and small - many of the small organisations rely on donations such as these to keep them going.

Canon
Canon, a leader in photographic and imaging technology provided the celebrities with Digital IXUS 40 cameras for this project. One of the latest additions to Canon’s renowned IXUS range, the camera is protected in a svelte stainless steel body with a silky finish, the IXUS 40 is the perfect fusion of cutting edge technology and design purity. With a host of state of the art technologies including a 4 Megapixel sensor, 3x optical zoom and a large 2.0” colour display, the IXUS 40 offers unparalleled image quality. At its core sits Canon’s highly acclaimed DIGIC II processor found in Canon’s professional series cameras, for superb colour rendering and sharp vibrant photos. Coupled with Canon’s unique ISAPS technology, which carefully analyses the scene and adjusts the camera’s settings to suit, capturing the perfect shot is simple.  Canon’s SELPHY compact photo printers compliment the Digital IXUS 40 perfectly. Connected directly to the camera, the SELPHY printers can produce lab quality prints in seconds without the need for a PC.
www.canon.co.uk   Canon Enquiries: 08705 143 723

Natasha Bedingfield
“I took this photo on a lonely beach in the south of Sweden. It was an incredibly serene and quiet moment. I was sitting in the sand on my own, with a blanket wrapped around me, listening to music on my headphones and watching the sun set. It will always be to me an inspiring memory. I chose it for the mug because… because special moments are never far away in life, but you need to grab them – and take a minute to appreciate – or you miss them. “ 
www.natashabedingfield.com

Joss Stone
“Live 8 was one of the most important and most nerve racking events I have been a part of.  Try standing up on a stage in front of all of those people, not to mention everyone watching on TV….crazy.  The crowd was gorgeous, the cause was unfortunate but thank God we were all there lending support.  I was so proud to be involved.”
www.jossstone.com