West Brom aims to raise £38,000 for charity

BUILDING society the West Brom is launching a £38,000 charity fund to help local good causes, with customers voting for the recipients.

Through the society’s ‘Community Counts’ initiative each branch will have a £1,000 pot to be shared between three charities or community groups with a strong local connection.  Customers can choose their favourite and the charity with the most votes will receive a £500 donation, while the other two will receive £250 each.

Jonathan Westhoff, chief executive of the West Brom, said: “We have close links to the communities we serve and believe in assisting projects and charities that do so much to improve the lives of local people.

“Community Counts is a great way to show our support and, importantly, allows us to direct that support exactly where our customers want us to.”

Funding for Community Counts has come through the West Brom’s Community Account and the Mercian Trust, a partnership between the society and the Diocese of Lichfield to support community groups and charitable causes in the region.

Business community brains trust supports Alzheimer’s Society

MEMBERS of Birmingham’s business community put their brains to the test by participating in a charity quiz to raise money for the Alzheimer’s Society.

Organised by Hays Recruitment Specialists and the ICC Birmingham, more than 120 people took part in the event, together raising over £1,500 for the society.

Emily Weighill, Community Fundraiser for the Alzheimer’s Society, said: “We are extremely grateful to Hays for all the time and energy they have put into organising the event, and to the ICC for providing the venue and food for free.”

Among the 11 teams taking part were Deloitte and Britvic with the eventual winners being the team from Kennedys Law. Runners-up were the Jurys Inn team closely followed in third place by the Insolvency Service.

Hays Director Mark Seymour was extremely happy with evening.  He said:  “Our Birmingham team were delighted to organise the quiz evening for the Hays corporate charity, the Alzheimer’s Society. I’d like to thank all of those who attended, donated prizes and the ICC for their support in making it such a successful evening.”

Kraft employees hoping new fundraising will be a flop

KRAFT employees from Bournville are taking part in a charity belly-flop to raise money for the Acorns Children’s Hospice.

The event, on May 14 at Harborne Pool and Fitness Centre, will involve six teams of six employees who will swim a combined distance of 28,800 metres in the hope of raising £5,000. Kraft Foods will be matching the total raised by the volunteers via its cashmatch initiative.
 
Michael Huggins, Kraft’s Community Champion at Bournville, said: ”In this Olympic year, we wanted to organise an activity to show our support for Team GB, and raise money for a fantastic cause in the process.

”We’re all putting in a lot of hard work and effort to train for the challenge, and knowing how well we are being supported and remembering what we’re doing it for, makes it all worthwhile.”

The employees at Kraft Foods have a long-term relationship with Acorns, having raised over £5,000 in the past 12 months alone. The children’s hospice provides care for children and young people who have life limiting or life threatening conditions, and offers support for the families involved.