CSR Briefs: eResponse Group; CPBigwood; Brindleyplace; Warwickshire CCC

Olympians will be star attractions at charity ball

A TRIO of British Olympic athletes will talk about their careers and the importance of teamwork next month at an annual charity ball organised by Worcestershire recruitment and training firm eResponse Group.

Track legends Kriss Akabusi, Roger Black and Derek Redmond will join more than 400 guests at the gala dinner which is raising money for eResponse’s Mia Foundation, the firm’s charity which is aiming to reach a £55,000 target to help eight-year-old disabled girl Mia Williams, who was born without eyes and suffers from cerebral palsy.

The event, which will be hosted by Akabusi, will be held at Birmingham’s National Motorcycle Museum on March  17with a table of 10 costing £600. The dinner will include an auction, prizes, music and a five-course meal.

The three Olympians will appear at the event where they will also discuss their glittering careers. Black and Akabusi are both decorated Olympic, World and European 400-metre medallists while Redmond, also a 400-metre runner and hurdler, won golds at the World and European Championships and the Commonwealth Games.

He also ran for Great Britain at the 1992 Olympics.

Paul Alekna, chief executive of eResponse, said: “We were lucky enough to have Kriss join us for our charity ball last year and he was the star of the show.

“To have Kriss with us again, alongside Roger and Derek, is fantastic.

“The guys are also accomplished motivational speakers so we’re all looking forward to hearing from them about teamwork, determination and having a drive to succeed.

“The ball promises to be a brilliant night and a great opportunity for businesses to network and let their hair down at the same time.

“It’s all for a good cause and we’re raising money for our very own Mia Foundation.

“Mia is an amazing little girl and every penny of the money raised will be going towards much-needed changes to her family home in Warwickshire which will massively improve her quality of life and support her parents Dean and Fran.”

CPBigwood’s real golf day winners are the chosen charities

THE winners of CPBigwood’s annual charity golf day have handed over more than £3,300 raised from the 2015 event to two Midlands charities.
 
Swatkins Group, which supplied the original trophy 13 years earlier won and, as is traditional, they got to choose the charities to benefit.

Swatkins team mates Paul Swatkins, Brett Huxley, Nik Revell and Cameron Corns elected to divide the money raised on the day between Blue Cross Bromsgrove Rehoming Centre and Sunfield, the residential special school at Clent which caters for children with complex learning needs.
 
Swatkins and Huxley presented cheques to Caroline Holden-Coulman, corporate partnerships manager at Blue Cross and Georgina Forrest, partnership development manager at Sunfield Children’s Home with CPBigwood represented by chief executive officer Rory Daly.

The two charities each received a cheque for £1,658.91.
 
CPBigwood’s 2016 annual charity golf day will once again be at Edgbaston Golf Club on September 28.

Dragonboat Race organisers seeking 2016 entrants

LOCAL businesses are being invited to battle it out at the annual Brindleyplace Dragonboat Race, whilst raising valuable funds for Cure Leukaemia in the process.

Now in its 17th year, the Dragonboat Race returns to the canal at Brindleyplace in Birmingham on Saturday 18 June

In teams of 11, more than 200 professionals will take to the water in 20ft
traditional Chinese longboats to demonstrate their paddling-power, swapping suits for fancy dress as they compete in a series of challenging heats, all in the name of charity. 

Alex Perrins, marketing executive at Brindleyplace, said: “The Dragonboat Race is one of Birmingham’s most successful annual corporate fundraising events, partly because it’s so accessible.

“Anyone can enter – you don’t need experience, we provide the kit, and the day itself is fun for the whole family.

“We raised nearly £65,000 for Cure Leukaemia in 2015 and, getting into the competitive spirit of the event, we want to raise even more this year with everyone’s support.”

In honour of Father’s Day, which falls on Sunday 19 June, Cure Leukaemia will be entering a ‘Boat of Dads’ comprising charity patrons, patients and ambassadors in the race. It will include Cure Leukaemia patron, ex-England footballer and father of two, Geoff Thomas, who was diagnosed with Chronic Myeloid Leukaemia in 2003.

Bears give boost to Cure Leukaemia patients

PLAYERS and staff from Warwickshire County Cricket Club (WCCC) gave a boost to two cricket loving blood cancer patients when they made their annual visit to the Centre for Clinical Haematology (CCH) at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QE) in Birmingham

The centre is supported by WCCC’s lead charity partner Cure Leukaemia and club captain Ian Bell, director of cricket Dougie Brown and other members of the playing and coaching staff made the short journey from Edgbaston to the QE for an update on the charity’s progress.

Professor Charlie Craddock CBE greeted the squad and gave a detailed update on how Cure Leukaemia’s fundraising, thanks to funds raised by WCCC and other partners, continues to benefit patients battling blood cancer in the Midlands.

Without Cure Leukaemia these patients would have no further treatment options through standard care on the NHS.

Since 2011 WCCC has raised more than £175,000 for Cure Leukaemia, a figure that has leveraged £1.75m in potentially life-saving drugs for blood cancer patients.

Two of these patients, Andy Payne and Andrew Robinson, were introduced to the players and invited to share their personal battles with blood cancer.

England international Bell then presented the cricket fans with a signed bat and shirt.

Click here to sign up to receive our new South West business news...
Close