Pinsent Masons helps charity find its voice

LAW firm Pinsent Masons hosted a special training event in Birmingham to give newly-recruited West Midlands volunteers the knowledge and confidence they need to represent the SOS Children organisation in their area.

The SOS Children Volunteer Speaker Training Day was aimed at giving volunteers valuable speaking skills and equipping them with the resources they will need to seek and undertake talks in the community.
 
The volunteer speakers speak about the work carried out by the organisation and the help it gives to the children in its care.  By giving talks to community groups and schools, the volunteer speakers inspire others to help children at risk and raise funds for their projects around the world.
 
Pinsent Masons has been working with its global partner charity, SOS Children for over five years.  SOS Children is a global authority on nurturing and supporting families, providing direct care for orphaned and abandoned children as well as working with local communities to keep fragmenting families together.  Each village supports up to 150 children and is equipped with educational, medical and social facilities.
 
Pinsent Masons provides pro bono legal advice to the charity, and raised funds for SOS Children’s Villages in China, India and Zambia.  

Alison Bond, partner at Pinsent Masons, said: “We are proud to partner SOS Children whose invaluable work with young people throughout the world fits perfectly with the aims of our CR programme.  We are keen to continue to build on the current strong relationship in new and exciting ways as SOS Children faces the challenges of the 21st Century”.
 

Selco builds up support for Macmillan Cancer

BIRMINGHAM-based Selco Builders Warehouse is to work in partnership with Macmillan Cancer Support to help raise funds for the charity.

Selco, based in Kings Norton, opted for the charity after asking staff across its 30-outlet network to vote for the organisation they would like the firm to support.

The company’s aim is to raise in excess of £100,000 for Macmillan over the next two years, having already raised over £20,000 through a charity auction and raffle>it also plans to hold a number of charity activities in its various branches.

Chris Cunliffe, Selco’s Managing Director, said: “Macmillan is a fantastic charity to support and with the increasing number of people affected by cancer it is an illness that sadly impacts many of us.

“We’ve set a target of raising over £100,000 over the next two years and have made a great start with our auction and raffle.  We’re looking forward to supporting this great charity over the next two years and I’m sure we’ll have some fun raising money.”

Linda Noon, Head of Regional Fundraising at Macmillan Cancer Support, said: “We are absolutely thrilled to have been chosen as Selco’s Charity partner for 2012/13 and want to say a huge thank you to their staff for getting behind Macmillan Cancer Support.”

Bournville workers help hunger charity

STAFF from Cadbury’s in Bournville spent a day volunteering at their local FareShare depot in Birmingham, continuing the company’s relationship with the national hunger charity.

Last year, Cadbury owner Kraft Foods donated over £20,000 to FareShare, and along with the volunteering efforts of its employees in Birmingham, Sheffield and London, who regularly help at their local depots, the company also donated over 48 tonnes of surplus product – equating to more than 115,000 meals for those in need.

The charity works to address two issues: food poverty and food waste. It utilises surplus ‘fit for purpose’ products from the food and drink industry, provides training and education, and promotes the message that ‘No Good Food Should Be Wasted’.

Rachel Kent, an employee from Bournville who recently volunteered with the charity, said: “I thoroughly enjoyed my volunteering experience at FareShare and was able to learn about the valuable work it does, supplying a wide range of good quality food and drink to projects in and around Birmingham. I found the whole day gave me a different perspective on working life and a real insight into what it is like to run a charitable operation.

“As a company we have strong links with the charity and Kraft Foods regularly boosts fundraising efforts by doubling the amount of money raised through its cashmatch initiative.”

Jonathan Pelluet, head of fundraising at FareShare, said: “We have 17 locations around the UK, so it’s fantastic to see the continued support from companies such as Kraft Foods.”