PRESS RELEASE

4th November 1999

THE CLEAN SLATE CAMPAIGN -
DEVELOPMENT OF THE MILLENNIUM CARD

A special Millennium Card has been designed and printed by Oxford residents Dianne and Richard Bayfield. With an arresting design by Windrush Press in Witney, it carries the simple message of the Clean Slate Campaign: could each of us take a practical step before the end of the year to start the new millennium with a clean slate?

Dianne Bayfield tells the story: "Back in the summer, we were discussing how we could best communicate the idea of The Clean Slate Campaign to our friends, relatives and acquaintances. Quite simply, the campaign invites each and every one of us to think of something that we would like to wipe off our slate before the end of the year, and then do it! The campaign, the brainchild of Edward Peters, a friend of ours from St Andrew's church, had been launched earlier in the year as a positive way of marking the Millennium. We both fully supported the idea that the Millennium could be about more than a big party, money-making schemes, the Dome and the largest ferris wheel on earth. If everyone did something positive as suggested, what a difference it could make!

"We thought about when we get in contact with everyone we know and the Christmas card mailout came to mind. It didn't seem appropriate to send a Clean Slate leaflet, so the idea of a special card was born. Initially we thought we could send it to the people on our own business and personal address lists. We then realised the potential the card had for communicating the message to many more people if it was adopted by the patrons and supporters of The Clean Slate Campaign and the wider public in general.

"So, a project was set in motion with Windrush to create a card, which would stand out from the Christmas mail, communicate the key aspects of the campaign, challenge people to think about the Millennium in a different way and want to send it. I think Alison, Windrush's designer, has fulfilled these criteria brilliantly with the design. Our company Bayfield Associates has agreed to produce to the card as a 'gift in kind' to the campaign and to underwrite the costs involved in the project. Cards will be available for sale with envelopes for 30p each, no profit will be made - the price has been fixed to cover costs only.

"In true 'Clean Slate' style, my first Millennium card will be sent to an old University friend with whom I have lost contact, we last saw each other some twenty years ago. We drifted apart when I was rather dismayed at an action she took in 1980 that caused significant hurt to me at the time. I have borne a grudge against her all this time, choosing to allow that particular action to colour our subsequent interactions rather than remembering the good times, the friendship and support we had shared previously. I find that she is now in Australia, so although we were perhaps not destined to remain close friends, I am going to write to her. I will acknowledge the part I played in the breakdown of the previous warm relations, celebrate the times we had together and swap news of what has happened in the intervening years."

For more information, contact Edward Peters, 01865 510734
The A5 size card costs 30 pence each plus £1 postage per 10 copies (min £1). Orders may be placed on a special Millennium Card Hotline: 01865-454828

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