Firms on their marks for Birmingham Bolt

BUDDING athletes from across the Midlands are set to take part in the 2013 Birmingham Bolt, a charity challenge launched by the National Indoor Arena.

The event on February 20 will see local business compete in a series of sporting challenges to get fit and help raise money for Birmingham homeless charity St Basils.

The event, which features jumps, sprints, long distance runs, throws, relays and novelty rounds, will take place on the professional athletics track at the arena – just days after some of the world’s best athletes have competed as part of the British Athletics Grand Prix.

The 2012 ‘Bolt’ saw the likes of the NEC Group, Birmingham Airport, PwC and Deloitte take to the floor and raise almost £4,000 for the Birmingham Civic Society’s Next Generation Awards.

The entry tree for the event is £250 per team with all the money going to the charity.

The event will also give professionals the chance to boost their contacts with a post-Bolt networking session. As part of this, the winning teams – which either raised the most money for St Basils or performed the best during the event – will be crowned and awarded the use of one of the NIA’s hospitality boxes for an event of their choice. There will also be food and drinks laid on by amplify, the NIA’s hospitality provider.

Thomas Horton staff get on their bikes to help homeless and cancer charities

LAW firm Thomas Horton has paid out £600 to two charities with the proceeds of a bike ride involving 10 employees of the Midlands practice.

The ride saw Jeff Taylor, Head of Corporate Services, and colleagues cycle between all three of the firm’s offices, from Barnt Green to Bromsgrove and then to Worcester for the finish.

The money was split equally between The Basement Project, a local charity providing support for homeless and potentially homeless young people in north Worcestershire, and CLIC Sargent, a leading cancer charity for children and young people.  
 
Mr Taylor said: “The Basement Project is a real sanctuary for young disadvantaged people in our area and we are delighted to support the terrific work that they do. We plan to continue our support by offering free legal guidance clinics for Basement Project clients who need it.”

Poppleton & Appleby golf day tees up minibus donation

INSOLVENCY firm Poppleton & Appleby, which has offices in Coventry, Birmingham and Wolverhampton, has presented a minibus to a Wolverhampton school.

Proceeds from the firm’s annual golf day, which took place at The Vale Resort, in the Vale of Glamorgan with the support of the Variety Club of Great Britain Golfing Society, were used to purchase the vehicle for the Penn Fields School.

Penn Fields is a special school for children with a wide range of learning difficulties and complex special educational needs.

Elaine Stanley, head teacher at Penn Fields School, said: “The minibus will be of great benefit to the school and it will allow us to extend and enhance our curriculum.”

Celebrities taking part in the annual golf day included Strictly Come Dancing judge Len Goodman, comedian Russ Abbott, ski jumper Eddie ‘The Eagle’ Edwards and comedian David Copperfield.

Andy Turpin, of Poppleton & Appleby, said: “It was fantastic to be able to present our 47th Sunshine Coach to Penn Fields School and to hear exactly how it will benefit the school for years to come.”

Pictured at the presentation are: Matt Hardy, Robert Roalfe, deputy head at Penn Fields School, Martin Coyne and Andy Turpin.