Amber Valley’s Twitter networking group #AVYourSay took their weekly online Twitter chat from cyberspace and into the real world last week under the slogan ‘Don’t Just Tweet, Meet’ with a dynamic event held at the Marquis of Ormonde in Codnor.
#AVYourSay is a weekly Twitter networking event held online every Tuesday night from 8pm to 9pm giving Amber Valley businesses and groups the chance to ‘tweet in’ using the hash tag #AVYourSay. Within a short space of time it’s huge popularity has had it trending nationally on a number of occasions.
It’s been running for around 6 months and the local team behind #AVYourSay (Paul at Amber Valley Info, Drew at Tree Hugger, Kirsty at Abacus Belper, Duncan at Amber Valley Wines and Kaye at SocialMyna) decided it was time to take the big step and go live.
Above: Team #AVYourSay, Duncan (Amber Valley Wines), Paul (Amber Valley Info),
Kirsty (Abacus Belper), Drew (Tree Hugger) & Kaye (Social Myna)
The event, #AVYourSayLive, was held at the Marquis of Ormonde in Codnor on Monday 8th April and a huge 40 businesses from across the Amber Valley came along. The guests were treated to canapés and sparkling wine on arrival followed by a tasting of English Wines organised by team member Duncan Mercer of Amber Valley Wines.
Above: Duncan Mercer of Amber Valley Wines talking about English Wines
Derby Women’s Centre was the chosen charity for the inaugural event which was represented by Elaine Robinson and Sue Lum-Wai. A fantastic £100 was raised for this very deserving local charity.
Elaine Robinson of Derby Women’s Centre thanked the team for their donation and said “Derby Women’s Centre is a resource for all women over 18 in and around Derbyshire. Many of our service users are vulnerable women who have suffered domestic abuse and/or have mental health problems, including common anxieties, depression, eating disorders, sexual abuse, relationship problems, bereavement and those of a cultural nature. Our aim is to empower women and to improve the quality of their lives. To do this we rely on funding and donations. Your £100.00 will provide 20 sessions of counseling or the equivalent on confidence courses and therapies”
Above: Kirsty Jackson of Abacus Belper presenting the donation to Sue Lum-Wai
and Elaine Robinson of the Derby Womens Centre.
Paul Curran-Bilbie of Team #AVYourSay said ‘It’s been a fantastic first event! The aim of the team has always been to promote local business by encouraging engagement and building lasting relationships between those businesses. What’s more we’ve had great fun doing it socially and raising money for charity at the same time. Watch out for another event soon!”
“We would also like to thank a number of people who supported the event. The Marquis of Ormonde, Amber Sound FM, photographer Lawrence de Gruchy and videographer Lara Elliott”
A raffle was also held as part of the evening with a number of great prizes donated by The Midland Railway Centre, Heage Windmill, Amber Valley Locksmiths, Dominos Pizzas, Social Myna, Tree Hugger, Abacus Belper, Amber Valley Wines and Amber Valley Info.
More information about the #AVYourSay Twitter chat can be found at www.avyoursay.biz
Below: A variety of photos from the event
All photos are courtesy of Lawrence de Gruchy
http://www.lawrencedegruchy.com/
