Deloitte selects Cure Leukaemia as its designated charity

BLOOD-cancer charity, Cure Leukaemia, has been selected as the charity partner for Deloitte in Birmingham in 2013/14.

The business advisory firm, which employs more than 600 people at its Birmingham office, is backing Cure Leukaemia’s vision to raise £10m over the next 10 years.

Deloitte joins a roster of high profile partners including Pinsent Masons, OGL, Free Radio, Aston Villa and Warwickshire County Cricket Club.

Celebrating its 10th anniversary this year, Cure Leukaemia was founded to support the world class Centre for Clinical Haematology at The QE Hospital Birmingham, and the work of Professor Charlie Craddock and his team to fund life-saving clinical trials.

The charity funds 15 specialist research nurses based at hospitals across the West Midlands including The QE Hospital Birmingham, Sandwell and Dudley, Stoke, Worcester, Coventry and Warwickshire, and also supports Birmingham Children’s Hospital.

James McLaughlin, chief executive of Cure Leukaemia, said: “We are honoured to have been chosen by such a prestigious firm as Deloitte to be their charity partner. I am convinced that our partnership with them will play a major role in helping us reach our £1m fundraising target for the year ahead.”
 
Dom Wong, Partner at Deloitte, added: “Deloitte is delighted to be supporting a brilliant and genuinely world class charity based in the heart of Birmingham.  Our Birmingham staff voted for Cure Leukaemia as our charity partner, and almost 50 of them have followed this up by entering the BUPA Great Birmingham Run to fundraise for them.”

Up The Glassboys says JW Hinks

BIRMINGHAM-based chartered accountants JW Hinks is supporting non-league football club, Stourbridge FC.

The Glassboys, as the team is known, play in the Calor League Southern Premier Division – the third tier of non-league football.

Last season the team finished second in the league and two years ago the club reached the second round of the FA Cup, beating League Two side Plymouth Argyle 2-0 in a First Round Replay in front of 2,519 at Amblecote – their highest crowd for 37 years.

Paul Jones, managing partner at JW Hinks, said: “We are delighted to support Stourbridge FC – a club who are defiantly on the rise. We all saw through their magnificent cup run a few years ago the potential of the club, so we had no hesitation in agreeing to support the club.”

JLR pledges support to Giant Panda research

THE Chinese arm of Midlands-based vehicle manufacturer Jaguar Land Rover has pledged a £100,000 sponsorship to support both the Giant Panda Research Symposium and a special education project.

The company chose to support the symposium, held at Edinburgh Zoo, because of the efforts it is making towards giant panda conservation and the protection of the creature’s habitat in the wilds of China.

Spearheaded by the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland, the three-day symposium was officially opened by the Chinese Consul General Li Ruiyou, Senior Veterinary Advisor to the Scottish Government Andrew Voas, the representative of the Lord Provost in Edinburgh Bailie Robert Aldridge, RZSS Chairman Jeremy Peat, and Jaguar Land Rover China President Bob Grace.

The event gathered local officials and over 65 experts from around the world to help develop a five-year research plan for giant pandas, which will have global ramifications on how giant pandas are cared for in zoos around the world and in Chinese reserves.

The five year giant panda research plan will centre on five key areas: field ecology, genetic management, artificial breeding and infant panda care, veterinary management and research, then finally cognitive evolution and behavioural research. It is hoped that the results will enrich the global effort to see one of the world’s most endangered species once again thrive in the wild.

Following the symposium, Jaguar Land Rover China will continue to work closely with RZSS on an education programme that aims to enhance Sino-UK relations.

Pictured at the official opening of the JLR Giant Panda Research Symposium are, from left: Chris West, CEO of the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland; Bailie Robert Aldridge, representative of the Lord Provost in Edinburgh; Andrew Voas, Senior Veterinary Advisor to the Scottish Government; Bob Grace, President of Jaguar Land Rover China; Li Ruiyou, Chinese Consul General; and Jeremy Peat, Chairman of the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland.