Business Diary: September 3

Diary, in common with many readers, is overwhelmed with jargon-heavy emails from life coaches and would-be inspirational speakers who spread confusion rather than inspiration.

After reading them, Diary has an overwhelming urge to reach for a thesaurus – in order to throw it at whoever sent the email.

How refreshing, therefore, to receive a blast of bracing 19th century common sense from Waldo Emerson, the America essayist and poet. It arrived in Diary’s inbox courtesy of Jill McCulloch of Coach You.

“Finish each day and be done with it,’’ Waldo Emerson said. “You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day. You shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense.”

Stand up for charity

Nine leading business people from Doncaster are swapping meetings for microphones as they prepare to perform stand-up comedy routines in support of their local cancer hospital.

Funny Business Doncaster, a fundraising event being organised by Weston Park Hospital Cancer Charity in association with the Doncaster Chamber of Commerce and Industry and supported by Business Doncaster, will see participants take to the stage at Doncaster Racecourse and each deliver a ten-minute comedy sketch.

The brave bunch will undergo a five-week training regime with policeman turned creative comic, Alfie Moore, and will be supported throughout the process by Weston Park Hospital Cancer Charity’s Tina Harrison, before they take to the stage on October 24.

Mr Moore has written and performed his own one-man show at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. He has supported Sarah Millican, Russell Kane and Milton Jones on their national comedy tours.

The Doncaster nine include Mark Appleyard of Mark Appleyard Solicitors; Colin Gaffney, managing director of The Natural Learning Company: Richard Walsh, managing director of Pennine Stone; Paul Fearn, director of Forge Trade UK; Arnie Shelley, owner of WPA; Gary Thickett of Gary Thickett Accountants; Mark Beresford, senior partner at Taylor Bracewell Solicitors and Mick Stamp of 1st Security Solutions.

Mr Walsh said: “You may well see beautiful stone columns, entrance porticos and bespoke door surrounds manufactured by Pennine Stone on the front of every judge’s house by the end of October, in a shameful disregard of the Bribery Act 2010.”

The fundraiser will be the first of its kind in the Doncaster area and will see the top business people step into the unknown to perform on stage at the town’s iconic venue.

Funds raised from the event will contribute to the charity’s ‘Do Your Bit’ campaign, which is currently raising funds for a new state-of-the-art cancer research and treatment suite at Weston Park Hospital.

Good to talk... and talk

ACCORDING to tradition, Yorkshiremen are a taciturn breed; who believe in the beauty of brevity.

By next week, Yorkshire could be known as the home of two men who can out-talk the rest of the world.

They are determined to put our county on the broadcasting map, by carrying out an epic feat of endurance.

Yorkshire broadcasters Jason Smith and Mick Peacock of Drystone Radio are limbering up for an attempt to break the world record for the longest live radio broadcast in a bid to raise money for charity.

The current official record of 73 hours is held by German radio station Kiss FM. After registering their attempt with the Guinness Book of World Records, Drystone presenters Mr Smith and Mr Peacock are ready to start on Friday at 9am, and aim to broadcast for 100 hours non-stop, with a goal of raising £10,000 for the charity Help for Heroes.

Declaring that both are allowed only one five-minute break each hour, Mr Smith promised: “We’re going to film the whole event to show we’ve done it, we can either have a five-minute catnap or build it up and sleep for one hour after 12 hours.”

Mr Peacock, who served for three years in the Army’s Royal Armoured Corps, said yesterday: “Sleep deprivation is nothing in my eyes, as long as we’re raising money for a good cause”

If the pair are successful they expect to be included in the Guinness Book of World Records’ 2014 edition published at Christmas. Drystone Radio, which is based in Cowling in West Yorkshire, is a not-for-profit community radio station run by volunteers broadcasting daily to the Yorkshire Dales.