I’m worried. Not because of the pandemic. Not because, for the past five weeks, I’ve left my home to take out (and bring in) the bins — and nothing else. Not because my parents, sister and her boyfriend all work ‘on the front line’.

I’m worried because once the dust settles and the pages of history are sealed, waiting for future generations to discover, we’ll realise we should — collectively — have made a much better account of ourselves.

I’m an ostomate. It’s a noun my spellchecker refuses to accept. I’m not overly surprised by that.
After all, I also have OCD and I still find that’s a misunderstood disorder, despite being covered in the press and wider media to a greater degree in recent years. Stomas are understood lesser still.

Working remotely, I proofread, edit text and make general grammatical and syntactical suggestions on copy submitted by clients through the Fluent Express site.

The copy can vary greatly in both length and complexity from case to case. As the name would suggest, all editing and proofreading must be turned around quickly and accurately. The work is subject to review and grading by management, from 1–5 stars. I'm currently proud to have a 5* rating.

Content Koala provide writers for a range of clients across different audiences and markets. For my part, I was assigned clients based on personal interests, while the amount of copy produced was subject to the subscription tier those customers chose.

As a rule, I produced a feature article and four social posts per client, per week, all of which needed approval from both Content Koala's management and the client.

My writing covered ecommerce clients and startups whose products centre around consumer tech.

Working within a small marketing team, I was jointly responsible for writing, proofing and editing all communication materials created for Touchstone's marketing activities.

This mainly included CRM and email marketing, writing a weekly newsletter, social media creation and curation, podcast recording, editing and writing podcast notes, press releases, recording audio/video interviews/vox pops, and conducting marketing photography.

In my capacity as senior content manager, I was responsible for launching and maintaining products and their content across the living room, dining room, bedroom and garden furniture categories. I worked closely with the buying team, suppliers and our in-house designers to ensure both imagery and copy was accurate and informative.

Aside from day-to-day duties, I also worked alongside colleagues in merchandising and email to prepare products and content for promotional activities, contribute blog content and fulfil other ad hoc copy requests.

I worked on a number of key projects while at Matalan Direct, both independently and in cooperation with colleagues within content- and design-based roles . These projects included a 500+ product launch ahead of the company's first foray into bricks-and-mortar stores, taking sole charge of the creation and maintenance of their new garden furniture category.

Working within a small copy team, I provided bespoke, tailored web and display advertising copy for a range of high-profile clients during my time at AO.com, including Samsung, Electrolux, Neff, Bosch and LG.
My role covered various categories, from small (vacuums, microwaves etc.) to large (washing machines, fridge freezers etc.) appliances, editing and updating content to ensure the accuracy of grammar, spelling and descriptions across the board.

Alongside an in-house designer and web developer, I was responsible for delivering seven brand pages, numerous website banners and supplementary display ads as the company launched their audio-visual offering ahead of the FIFA World Cup 2014. Reporting into the brand manager, external stakeholders included Sony, Toshiba and Panasonic. From inception to completion, this project was turned around in under two weeks.

As part of the audio-visual launch, I worked with one of our designers to develop a concept and provide copy for the packaging to be used when delivering the newly launched audio-visual accessories. Sign-off on the project was required from AO.com's content manager, head of design and brand lead. The final version of this packaging can be seen below.

Subjects covered:

Professional Attachment (Placement)
Online Journalism
Public Relations Strategy
Social History of the Media
Media Production
Broadcast Journalism (TV)
News Journalism
Journalism in Context
Specialist Reporting Skills
Journalism Ethics
Media Law and Regulation
Sport and the Media
Sport in Society
Sports Politics and History
Sociology and Psychology of Sport
Leisure Context and Cultures

Applied Research Project - 'Football fandom in the pre and post BSkyB era.'