English Chess Forum

According to the press release on the front of the ECF website, the distribution of the chess will begin ' most likely in May'

Is that still the case?

I can exclusively confirm that the distribution of chess sets will indeed begin in May.

They haven't confirmed which millenium yet

We need Ernie Lazenby to weigh in with a few well-chosen misssspellings.

From the sccu report of the last ECF meeting:
"Chris Majer and David Anderton had had a meeting on Tuesday, their second we believe, with the new Executive Chairman of Holloid. We won't report everything they told Council, in view of Holloid's wish to handle publicity themselves (a press release is expected). But plans have moved on since the January statement. There is new thinking on distribution (which now targets the 2009-10 school year as you'd expect).
Why should we believe anything will come of this now, after the premature announcements and disappointments and silences of the last year and more? One reason must be that the new Holloid boss, when he took over late last year, did not wash his hands of the project as he presumably might have done. On the contrary he seems to have embraced it with enthusiasm. Another reason is the impression he has made on Chris Majer. Chris spoke convincingly of his confidence that Holloid will deliver, and has put his reputation on the line. He will not stand for office in October if they do not deliver."

Looks like the ECF will need a new CEO then

Coming up on three weeks now, how long does it take to generate a press release?

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Cheers
Carl Hibbard

I received a press release from the ECF at 14.09 this afternoon. No doubt it will be posted on the ECF website shortly.

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http://www.chesskids.org.uk
http://www.richardjames.org.uk

Thanks, my timing is good then isn't it....

Can you post it here or is it not for publication at this time?

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Cheers
Carl Hibbard

May 2009: The English Chess Federation’s flagship project for the coming year is Chess for Schools – an endeavour to put chess sets in every school in England, and then follow up with the objective of establishing new school chess clubs. The original concept for the project came from the child of a Holloid employee bemoaning the lack of chess facilities at their school.

“This is a chess project on a scale never previously attempted in England, involving the delivery of thousands of free chess sets and supporting material – an opportunity that comes thanks to the generous leadership and sponsorship of Holloid Plastics”, says the ECF’s Chief Executive, Chris Majer.

Holloid Plastics has put together a specialist team to work on the Chess for Schools project. Project Manager Caroline Morris is supported by Emily Watts as Project Assistant. Public relations is being conducted by Clive Couldwell (Account Director, SE10) and sponsorship coordination by Jonathan Steffen (Managing Director, The Corporate Story). The project’s Production Manager is Keith Elliott, Holloid Plastics’ Technical Sales Director.

During the first year of the project it is planned to provide approximately 100,000 free chess sets to those schools that have registered. The proposed method of distribution is to hold regional launch days during which the recipients of the sets will collect their sets. Three or four small preliminary events in Surrey, Hampshire and Oxfordshire will be held in May and June 2009. Further details will be published in due course. The events will officially start in September 2009 and the chess sets will be manufactured by Holloid Plastics.

Henning von Spreckelsen, Holloid Plastics’ Executive Chairman, says “Working with the English Chess Federation and our sponsors, we are committed to making the Chess for Schools project a resounding success. Uniquely, this project offers me an ideal opportunity to give something back for the support I have received from others in the past.”

Says Chris Majer: “This initiative is the largest sponsorship that English chess has received. Thanks to Holloid Plastics’ meticulous planning I am confident that the Chess for Schools programme will be a great success.”

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http://www.chesskids.org.uk
http://www.richardjames.org.uk

Still as clear as mud?

Are there 100,000 sets available or is the plan to provide that "number" if sponsors are forthcoming?

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Cheers
Carl Hibbard

More details now...

http://www.bcf.org.uk/chess4schools/pr_may09.htm

As part of a new Chess for Schools initiative, Holloid Plastics will finance and project manage the manufacturing and distribution of 100,000 free chess sets to 10,000 schools.

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Cheers
Carl Hibbard

So, should we now be quietly optimistic?

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http://streathambrixtonchess.blogspot.com/

The problem is most people don't believe what either the ECF or Holloid Plastics say. This news seems absolutely incredible, but there a lot of things about it that strike me as odd, the main ones being,

1. If this were to be the outcome why haven't we heard anything for 4 months?
2. Why is there no press release, or indeed anything about free chess sets on the Holloid Website?

I'm sorry but with the track record of this project I find it impossible to be optimistic.

Matthew Turner wroteI do not know the answer in respect of the press release, but the Holloid website is not totally silent on the subject of chess sets. At http://www.holloid-plastics.co.uk/Resou ... astics.pdf there is a March press release about the acquisition of Holloid which includes the following paragraph:

“This company has a lot to look forward to,” says Mr. von Spreckelsen. “Not least
among this is our involvement in the English Chess Federation’s Chess For Schools
project. We are honoured to be a lead sponsor of this valuable initiative to foster a love
of the game and strategic thinking among our nation’s youth, and are committed to
making this project a resounding success.”

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ECF Company Secretary and Financial Controller