Charity News: Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Refugee Forum; BigC LittleC
Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Refugee Forum is set to receive a “significant” financial donation as hundreds of digital marketing and tech experts book into the 2022 Nottingham Digital Summit on Friday 10th June.
Proceeds from ticket sales, together with collections on the day, will help the charity respond to the unprecedented rise in demand for support from families and individuals escaping war, persecution and climate catastrophe.
International digital marketing agency Hallam, the main organiser of the Summit, is committed to raising thousands of pounds for local charities based in its home city. In 2018, more than £15,000 was given to housing association charity Framework, and in 2019 delegates donated over £20,000 for the Nottingham Samaritans.
The Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Refugee Forum is an independent charity set up in 2000 to support refugees and asylum seekers in the area. In addition to giving advice and information, the charity runs several projects, including the Children and Families programme; the programme organises events, outings and weekly activities such as group meetings, trips to the sea and cinema to overcome social isolation.
A mum and her daughter attended one such event: “I don’t know how I can say thank you for yesterday. Honestly, we have been experiencing many difficulties for a long time and I have not had any chance to take my daughter out and make her happy. Maybe it is unbelievable but it is one of my dreams to take my daughter to the cinema, farm, theatre and …. You made one of them come true.”
Another child, Ahmed (age 7), said: “I am happy because now I have made friends. I was scared before and felt sad, thank you for this gift.”
Sarah Wilson, children and families worker, said: “This project is about creating a sense of belonging and having fun despite the challenges. Seaside trips and panto performances are for families who would otherwise not be able to afford to go, or not have the confidence to attend.
“Summit donations will help us to fund equipment to reduce technological poverty, toys, books and clothes, and transport, as well as trained facilitators for workshops. We are in the first year of our project but have already supported over 150 clients.”
The Summit will take over Nottingham Playhouse for a day of main stage international speakers and a variety of break-out smaller group sessions. Delegates from around the UK can take part in a digital experience exhibition with live demonstrations and end the day with a drinks reception hosted at Nottingham Castle.
Jake Third, managing director at Hallam, said: “We are thrilled to be able to get involved with the Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Refugee Forum and to support all of the hard work that they do. Our goal is to raise as much as we can in aid of the NNRF for all the services that they provide and we’re thankful to our sponsors and event attendees who make this donation possible.”
The team captains
Local charity BigC LittleC is to benefit from a donation of £12,260 from 24 golfers representing six East Midlands businesses who have completed the 2nd annual “Three Bunkers Challenge.”
Styled like the infamous three peaks mountain climbs, The ‘Three Bunkers Challenge’ involves 24 golfers playing three golf courses in each of the East Midlands counties of Nottingham, Derby and Leicester in one day. The event was established by Andrew Allsop from Morley Hayes and Bev Cook of Simple Marketing Consultancy which is based in Radcliffe on Trent. Having raised £13,000 last year, Bev pledged to repeat the event until £100,000 is raised and was recently honoured with a NSPCC ‘Esther People Award’ which was presented by Dame Esther Rantzen in recognition of this commitment.
The six companies that participated were: business advisory firm Mazars (Bob Johnson), Anthony James Insurance Brokers (Steve Boorman) Breeze Corporate Finance (Paul Bevan), MKM Building Supplies, (Kate Tinsley) Fiscal Engineers (Colin Shaw), and Bev and Elliot Cook from Simple Marketing Consultancy.
Colin Shaw from BigC Little C said: “Each year the amount each team raises gets better and better and with donations still coming in I’m hoping we will reach at a 2 year cumulative total of £30k, so only another 4 years to go! I’d like to thank all players for rallying round to encourage donations and to all three golf clubs for allowing us to play their courses in this format.”
This year the event started at 6.30am at Morley Hayes Golf Club, then players travelled to Charnwood Forest Golf Club and concluded at The Nottinghamshire Golf & Country Club. To make it more interesting, the team captain has to record how many bunkers the players in their team go in and then subtract this figure from their overall points score. This rule underpins the reason for calling the event “The three bunkers challenge.”
The winning team in 2023 was Breeze Corporate Finance comprising; Paul Bevan, Ben Collins, Bob Newsome, and Duncan James.
Richard Lawrence from Charnwood Forest Golf Club said: “It was a pleasure to welcome the 3 Bunkers challenge today at Charnwood Forest Golf Club. We fully support all the hard work each team is doing to raise money for BigC Little C and we’re delighted to have them booked in our diary for next year’s event in their quest to raise £100,000.”
The charity Big C Little C was founded by business entrepreneurs, Andrew Springhall from Breedon Electrical Services and Colin Shaw, former Chairman of PKF Cooper Parry, who joined forces in January 2019 to create a charity to encourage businesses to organise events to raise money to support local initiatives that will support NSPCC and Cancer Research.
