Since 2003, when Rosco introduced #313 Light Relief Yellow to its Supergel range, the company has contributed thousands of dollars to the UK charity Light Relief, and at PLASA/09 one of the charity’s trustees, John Simpson, accepted a cheque for over $4,100 (approximately £2,500).

Making the presentation, Mark Engel, President of Rosco, said: “This is the largest cheque we have presented to Light Relief since the program began, with total contributions now in excess of $19,000, funded totally by purchases of #313 Supergel. We knew this would be ‘a gift that keeps on giving’ but I don’t think we ever anticipated just how successful it would be!”
 
Developed with the help of Rick Fisher, co-founder (along with the late Tony Gottelier) of the industry charity which supports lighting designers in difficult times, Light Relief Yellow is the vibrant, sunshine colour of the charity’s logo.

“While one-off donations are extremely welcome, it’s regular donations such as this that enable us to make immediate decisions as to how we are able to help those in need,” said John, who is also chairman of White Light. “It is wonderful that the charity is supported by such unending contributions: this not only reminds users of Light Relief, but also of Rosco's creative generosity every time the colour is specified.”

Similarly, when ETC introduced its iRFR (Radio Focus Remote for iPhone and iPod Touch) four months ago, Luke Delwiche from ETC Tech Services in London suggested that the profits be shared between Light Relief and its US equivalent, Behind the Scenes. At PLASA/09, Luke was delighted to present a cheque for £1,800 to Light Relief trustee Lesley Harmer. In thanking Luke for the money, Lesley said: “This is an incredible amount of money to raise in just four months. We thank Luke and everyone at ETC for their generosity, and for a brilliant idea which will continue to raise money for this worthwhile cause year after year.”
 
When users purchase the iRFR application from the iTunes store, they designate the charity of their choice. The Light Relief or Behind the Scenes logo then appears as the iRFR start screen. ETC Software Engineer Chris Mizerak developed the application with a view to making it as user-friendly and direct as any Apple application, with added peace of mind, as full security controls to lock out all unauthorised users.

Because the iRFR application is purchased through iTunes for iPhones and iPod Touches that people already own, they install it and have it immediately – no hardware or special factory-coding required. And an added benefit: if you misplace your lighting-system remote – just call your phone and find it!

Photo 1: Lighting&Sound International

Photo 2: Harmer PR