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Robin Burton Public Speaker
Areas:
Avon Bath Birmingham Bristol Gloucestershire Herefordshire Midlands Monmouthshire Oxfordshire Shropshire South Wales Warwickshire West Midlands Worcestershire
Categories:
No Fee Craft Sewing Painting etc Educational Famous People History Light hearted Music Travel Workshop

Robin Burton

Location: Gloucester, Gloucestershire
About me...

I have forty plus years in sales and marketing, working in high technology, aid and various other things. Worked across the world including Sierra Leone, Nepal, Yemen, Bosnia, Cote D’Ivoire as well as more “usual” locations such as the USA, South Africa, Europe etc. I took up singing in 2013 and now perform solo and as part of two different groups. My repertoire includes English folk plus sea shanties, Music Hall and the occasional blues number. I am Chairman of Stroud Wassail and a Trustee of Gloucestershire Traditions.

About my Talks...

My presentations all feature Powerpoint slides.   I have my own PC and projector but do not have my own screen.

 

Fee:

I charge no fee. However a donation to either Gloucestershire Traditions or the Red Cross is appreciated.  If  the venue is more than fifteen miles distant from my home in Gloucester  then I would also appreciate the payment of travel expenses @ 24p per mile.

I am prepared to travel anywhere within 50 miles or so for a booking and further if it is  a large group or  if they are prepared to make a good donation to one of the charities.

My Contact Details:
Phone:

07843 241371

Email:
robin@robinburton.co.uk

Our Heritage of Song: the unopened treasure chest

Public Speaker Robin B urton speaks about Our Heritage of Song.

We, the English, have a great treasure chest.  It contains the songs of the people.  This talk explores the contents of that chest.   I use pictures, and songs, to illustrate the story.  It is a romantic story of a history that was so very nearly lost to us; a history that was rescued from the brink by a dedicated band of song collectors.
The talk examines some of the most colourful of these characters.   This includes Sabine Baring Gould, the writer of “Onward Christian Soldiers”, who collected songs from the farm workers in rural Devon in the 1870s, and who was also known as a prodigious author, travel writer and author of the definitive work on Werewolves!   It looks at how some of these collectors, such as Ralph Vaughan Williams, used the songs to give their own compositions a unique character.
I cover how the songs have prompted the revival of traditions, such as the Stroud Wassail.

I illustrate this talk with songs as well as pictures and it can be presented as a workshop if desired with community singing. In some cases I have been asked to return to a venue and organise a pure “song night” without the talk. If this might interest your group, please contact me and we can discuss your requirements in more detail.

Information as Aid: Saving lives by text

Port au Prince, Haiti. November 2011. SMS messages are send to communities across the country providing simple information on how to avoid contracting cholera. People can call the toll-free Red Cross information line where they can access additional messages on cholera prevention and treatment.

The TERA project was borne out of the Haitian earthquake crisis.   It was designed to solve the problem of allowing aid agencies to get vital information to the victims of natural disasters.

I cover the value of being able to communicate with disaster victims, as well as the challenges of doing so.   The talk features my personal experiences working for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent in Sierra Leone and Nepal.