Press release 28th Sept 2010

PRESS RELEASE

28 September 2010

‘LARGEST EVER’ UK CHURCH RESOURCE WEBSITE TWELVEBASKETS AIMS TO OFFER FAIRER DEAL FOR CHRISTIAN WRITERS, CREATIVES AND MUSICIANS

33,000 different resources ‘now just two clicks away’

The new Twelvebaskets website (www.twelvebaskets.co.uk), which offers churches an unparalleled array of worship and other resources, was today hailed by its founder as almost certainly the ‘largest ever’ such site to be launched in the UK.

Twelvebaskets, which is the brainchild of Methodist minister Wayne Grewcock, Ian and Richard Harris is set to provide a total of 33,000 different images, Christian songs, hymns, poems, books, bible studies, articles, plays and material for children when the site goes live on 1 October.

Not only is Twelvebaskets reckoned to be the largest such site in the UK but it is also unquestionably the broadest. The range of resources is all tagged and searchable and is linked to the church Lectionary. Churches and schools may therefore download multiple materials from which they may construct an entire service or assembly (themed if desired). All this is entirely legal for non-commercial use and is available at, literally, two clicks of the mouse.

A further important feature of Twelvebaskets is that Christian writers, photographers and musicians may not only upload their own original material to the site but will also receive a royalty every time their work is downloaded. Twelvebaskets is also rather more generous to artists than the industry standard; instead of receiving just 10% of sales, contributors signed up to Twelvebaskets will be entitled to a share of one third of the net proceeds of the subscription fee, after VAT. There is also an option to donate some or all royalties to a designated charity if preferred.

An extensive national advertising campaign for Twelve Baskets will begin in mid October.

Rev. Wayne Grewcock, one of the founders and Managing Director of Twelvebaskets, said: “We are delighted to unveil today what we believe to be the largest, the broadest and the most user-friendly set of resources ever made available to the Worldwide church.

“It is the ideal portal for busy church leaders and school teachers looking for top quality content for their services and assemblies. More than that, if the site takes off as we anticipate, we expect that Twelvebaskets will become a unique Christian community, where people from every tradition, denomination and style of worship will come together to share their resources, to broaden their experience and to grow together in expressing their love for and worship of Jesus Christ”.  

Annual subscription costs to the Twelvebaskets website have been kept deliberately low. At only £60 (equivalent to £5 a month) for an individual and £100 for a church (with access for 5 people), this represents exceptional value. The low price also means that Twelvebaskets anticipate that a minimum of five thousand subscribers will sign up to the site in the first twelve months.