As a long-time supporter of Eastbourne Area Community First Responders, I have been consistently impressed by their dedication and commitment to serving our community. Their steadfast approach over the years speaks volumes about the strength of the team behind the service. The training they undertake and the service they provide truly saves lives. We are fortunate to have such skilled, reliable volunteers supporting Eastbourne when it matters most. Thank you for everything you continue to do.

Eastbourne News did a fantastic job covering our recent member recognition event. The process of submitting the information was straightforward and well organised, which made everything easy from our side. Most importantly, our members were genuinely thrilled to see themselves featured in print. It gave them a real sense of pride and recognition for the work they do in the local community. Thank you to the team for handling it professionally and helping us celebrate local businesses in such a positive way.

I contacted Rupert Kirby at the eleventh hour when our original photographer couldn’t make our member recognition event. Although event photography isn’t his usual focus, Rupert kindly stepped in as a favour and covered it in exchange for a donation to St Wilfrid’s. He’s always been a great supporter of thebestof Eastbourne, and once again he helped us out when we needed it most. We’re really grateful for his time and generosity.

We’ve regularly been hosting our Business Boost events with FOUNDRY Eastbourne, and today we used the new Breakwater business suite for the first time. It added a real sense of professionalism to the morning and made hosting easy. Everything was ready when we arrived, the facilities were excellent, and the team made sure everything ran smoothly. A big thank you to the FOUNDRY team for their support.

When it comes to cars, we all get the value of having a service, your car feels better, and you have peace of mind it will get you from A to B… Why don’t we put the same value on getting our computers checked up from time to time? Andrew has been great since initially advising on the best spec for my PC and any issues along the way. Yesterday he upgraded me to Windows 11 and cleaned its inner workings. This has resulted in it being much quieter AND running a like a dream again.

When I dropped by to present them with their award certificate from business of the Year it was sooooo busy and the food smelt delicious I decided I needed to come back for a breakfast. So Christmas Eve I dropped by and had the medium breakfast which was very tasty. I would happily recommend you check it out for yourself.

Thank you to Gordana for taking the time to review my latest marketing materials layout and content. Your objective eye was very welcome and the finished result is substantially better as a result!

Swain Brother has been long standing members of thebestof Eastbourne and over the past 12 years I have heard nothing but praise for the team. So when it was time to update couple of my windows who else would I turn to? For peace of mind and comparison I talked with a few local double glazing companies but Swain Brothers were by far the most competitive estimate and 0 pressure to visit the property to measure up. As soon as I was ready Tim visited me to get the final measurements and discuss options to meet my needs. Windows were installed quickly and with minimal disruption. Great Job!

Thank you so much to Martin for again sharing his expert knowledge with fellow members of thebestof Eastbourne and our guests at the Business Boost event. Some great insights shared and we really appreciate the guidance on attracting and retaining the best possible employees for our businesses.

A HUGE thanks to Simon for making a suggestion on how I could help my members more with a small change. It has proven to be the most commented-on change over the last 5 or 6 years! Simon's attention to detail is a true asset.

Working with Mina for as many years as I have is a real blessing, when I noticed a significant change to Facebook Mina was my first point of call. We talked about the issue and the potential implications to the wider business community and how we can offer advice should it be needed!

How much do I love Market Theatre Touring Company? I have seen three of their shows now and laughed so hard in them all. My first encounter was Roman Romp which I had now idea what I was in for... but certainly entertaining for adults. I for one can't wait to see them again in their next production!

I hit a stumbling block when making a change to the new pc I got from AP-it and Andrew was able to talk me through it and even sent me the helpful article about how to resolve my issue.

My computer is the heart of my business and during the lockdown, it has been working harder than ever. Though I may be tech-savvy in terms of using programs etc the inner workings of my PC are still a mystery so when I found myself running low on hard drive space with only a fraction of my storage drive in use I was lost. Thanks to Andrew and the free tool he suggested I found the problem and resolved it very quickly. As I always say, listen to the experts they have years of figuring things out even if it seems a quick solution they have probably spent hours trying to make sure it is the most effective solution!

Over the years I have often been asked why don’t I employ a team member and the answer is always the same. I am happy to pay a higher rate for a service that I don’t need to train, develop and check the work. I have a million and one things to do each day and that is before I wake up in the morning so knowing I can outsource copy or social media to Mina’s team without having to worry is priceless (but please don’t tell Mina than she might increase her prices lol)

If I could go back to tell my younger self about the value of learning I would have been a much better student. Now I take every opportunity to learn from others that are “doing the do” and that is what I got when I had an EDEAL funded session with Mina. Yes, I am already knowledgeable about social media but if you have ever heard the saying can’t see the forest for the trees this can easily happen and taking time to sit and talk through strategy and the various changes to platforms like Facebook and LinkedIn. Mina certainly reignited my love of LinkedIn as I have been favouring Facebook for a while now but certainly going to be looking at all the opportunities now open to Businesses owners like me on the platform.

Brilliant Brilliant Brilliant! I laughed so much during the adult panto. The cast were brilliant and intermission icecream was delicious :)

My first visit on a Friday night. Great atmosphere and perfect place for a couple of drinks before heading to the theatre.

I needed help with reviewing multiple pages of content I had written and was far to close to the subject matter to see them anymore. Gordana was kind enough to review the content and give me feedback. My office work made easy with a little help, BIG thank you :)

Creating content is an ongoing challenge as you find a style and stick to it. I need to ensure that copy for thebestof Eastbourne along with our SEO text is as effective as possible and Mina has been a great help. Even when it is content I have created having a fresh pair of eyes look over it to catch the silly errors that slip in when you are so close to the subject. Thank you for all you do.

Really enjoyed Roman Romp! Very funny adult comedy. The refit to the theatre certainly is noticeable on arrival.

It's key to business to success to outsource the things you are not 100% required to do... Ditzy Media help me with a number of things that free me up to focus on other areas of my business!

BIG thanks to Mina for stepping in at the 11th hour to speak at our #EBtweetup when our scheduled speaker had to drop out. As always the content was current, relevant and delivered in simple English… something that is always appreciated by our guests.

Time never seems to slow down in the digital world and opportunities pass in the blink of an eye. When I started working with Ditzy Media to manage some of my social media accounts to ease the burden from me managing them all, an amazing thing happened… being less “dizzy” from having to do it all myself I had breathing room to look at my accounts from a strategic point of view. Working with Joe and Mina we have made tweaks to the campaign and certainly getting the results I was hoping for. It was a big decision to trust a 3rd party with my brand but Joe and Mina have taken very good care of my hard-fought reputation.

Running multiple social media accounts is very time consuming even more so when I know what I want to say I just don’t have the time to share this in a time fashion or take the time to schedule them. I made the decision to have Ditzy Media take over the management of a few of my social media feeds and have been so pleased I did. They respond quickly to my requests and now with Joe as my point of contact I am pleased to see the service levels have not dropped! Joe has been very thorough with getting to know my objectives and is ensuring that my accounts are well maintained and informative. Thanks Mina and Joe between you Ditzy Media saves me a lot of time!

When it comes to LinkedIn most people would agree recruiters use it was great effect and as LinkedIn itself keeps reminding me with their bubble messages “just one profile view can result in getting that top job” or words to that effect. So when I wanted to share some expertise with our members and audience there could be no better option that Martin Ellis the Head Hunter at RSE. Martin has presented at two workshops for me an in-depth 2 hours and a summary 10 minutes showing his flexibility as a speaker jam packing both sessions with high useful information. Really enjoyed learning about this highly underrated social media platform. It is certainly not just for people looking for jobs but a huge online extension to your business network!

Mina is a huge help to thebestof Eastbourne and a joy to promote. Mina and I have known each other since 2006 and she has always been someone I can turn to for advice. Since the launch of Ditzy Media I have watched the business truly take shape and grow. Having Mina available to help with copywriting for our features, hosting #EBhour and generally just being there when needed. We have great creative sessions and often fill in the gaps in each others knowledge which is the perfect compliment to our working relationship.

When meeting with businesses to discuss supporting them with their business marketing in Eastbourne I always look for businesses with a generous nature willing to support community initiatives and events. This year Simon has really impressed me with his support for a number of local charity events and he even invited me to a Cricket event he was a sponsor for in Bexhill. In addition to being charitable Simon also makes regular quality contributions to our business marketing workshops and put forward suggestions how to make thebestof Eastbourne even better for its business members.

I am notoriously difficult to buy for though my new watch from Chatfileds is awesome. When I first saw it I knew I had to have it. To receive it as a surprise gift for my birthday with engraving it is even more special. Thank you so much.

Since I first launched my marketing support workshops I have really enjoyed providing helpful and timely advice to my members. In June with thebestof Buy Local campaign, my first expo and of course the #EBtweetup my diary of "free time" was non existent so I turned to Ditzy Media to help fill the gap. WOW was I impressed, not only was I covered but Ditzy Media also involved another member of thebestof Eastbourne and crafted a very comprehensive content workshop. Much more detailed and with facts and figures I don't always have time to drill down to. To say my marketing support work shop was in safe hands in an understatement! Huge thanks to you Mina for all the values you bring to thebestof Eastbourne.

Mina has been a member of thebestof Eastbourne now for a short while and also helping me with my overflow of social media work. From helping look after my secondary accounts to content creation Mina's help has been invaluable. Feeding the content hungry social media is nearly a full time job in itself and being able to depend on the abilities of someone like Mina to create content I can trust is something that could not have arrived sooner. I am not sure how I coped without someone with the level of experience Mina has before now. Social Media is not going away and I am so pleased that local business now have somewhere to turn to in the form of Ditzy Media!

I just wanted to say a BIG thank you to all the staff at the Afton Hotel. From getting things set up for my events to putting up with my endless meetings in their lounge area. Today they even accommodated my filming about thebestof with Lone Coyote TV! Such a flexible venue I think they are great :)

I have known Mina (owner of Ditzy Media) for many years now. At a previous Tweetup I invited her to speak as a local expert on the use of social media. As many consider me an authority on Social Media I have to admit it is such a vast subject that having someone I can trust to do an exceptional job and brain storm with is a huge relief. Any business be it a member of thebestof Eastbourne or other local business can be assured of the best possible service and access to an impressive knowledge bank!

Having my Christmas party at the Afton Hotel and wanting to enjoy it with a few festive drinks I thought I would take advantage of staying overnight. I have used the Afton Hotel on many occasions for my events over the years but never had a need for staying over. After checking in I found my room which was nice enough. The wall art was a beautiful shot of the pier. I had a few hours before my guests were due to arrive so lay on the bed and watched some TV (a reasonable size TV with a simple enough remote). I have to say the bed was much more comfortable than I expected hence falling asleep and nearly missing my party! Whenever I travel I normally opt for a Premier Travel Inn but safely say that the bed I had at the Afton Hotel offered me just as good a night sleep (not aided by Alcohol at all) I know most of the staff well but they were just as friendly as always. Everything for the evening went smoothly and to time. Pleased to see that drinks were not expensive. When at an event earlier in the year (in Solihull) I was disappointed at being charged £5 a pint where drinks at the Afton Hotel are not the normal hefty mark up you can get at hotels.

Recently I gave the writing services of the My Admin Support a try. Sarah was extremely professional and totally understood my needs. The copy was provided within the agreed time frame and it is getting the results I really wanted to see. Finding a copy writer that can deliver content in the style I want has proven difficult but from the results of this first trial I shall certainly be putting more projects to the My Admin Support team.