PPDG gets the baking bug for charity

A BIRMINGHAM employment specialist has adapted the words from a popular TV advert to encourage raising funds for Macmillan Cancer Support.

Pertemps People Development Group (PPDG), with offices in Birmingham and across the Black Country, is in its tenth year of raising funds for the charity. It recently opted to focus on the trend for creating cupcakes and having bake-offs.

Team leader Tina Pritchard is a keen baker whose cakes attract a lot of attention at the company.

“I make cakes most Thursday evenings which are purchased by staff on Fridays for charity,” said Tina. “But I do have colleagues who believe their baking is equally as good which often leads to a friendly rivalry, with Macmillan being a beneficiary. When asked if I would make some by our PR manager I naturally answered ‘anything for you, cupcake’ and it just stuck through the fundraising.”

A series of recent events meant that Macmillan’s Birmingham fundraising manager Emily Morgan was able to pick up a cheque for £650 from PPDG employees Hollie Jackson and Jamie Morris. A further cheque for £364 was also donated to Macmillan by staff from the company’s Teesside offices.

Emily said the popularity of the Hotels4U advert and the rich Birmingham accent it features had added another dimension to help drive the fundraising events forward.

Wilkes Partnership lawyer makes a marathon effort for VICTA

DARRYL Thomas, employment law specialist at the Solihull office of law firm The Wilkes Partnership is planning to raise funds for charity by running in the London Marathon.

Though he is an experienced runner, Darryl has never competed in a full marathon before.  Now he is set to join such athletic luminaries as Olympic star Mo Farah and the current marathon world record holder Wilson Kipsang.

He will be running in the event – on April 13 – in aid of a charity called VICTA, for whom he is aiming to raise more than £1,250.  The charity supports blind and partially sighted children and young people by organising experiences that give support to the young people to aid their educational, emotional and social development. 

He  said: “I chose VICTA because of the work they do and because they are a less known charity with clear ideals, a track record and low administration costs.”

A repeat performance for Ronnie Bowker Foundation run

A WEST Midlands-based charity is organising a ten kilometre run to raise funds for deserving causes in Birmingham and the West Midlands region. 

This is the second such event following on from the success of last year’s run, when around 200 people took part.

Once again, the Ronnie Bowker Foundation, formed in memory of the late Ernst & Young regional managing partner, is planning the event at Birmingham’s Cannon Hill Park for the same date as the London Marathon, April 13.

The cost of entry is £12 or £10 for members of running clubs and would-be runners can enter via http://www.runbritain.com/  

Ronnie Bowker, who passed away in 2010, was a well-known figure in Birmingham, not only because he was at the head of Ernst & Young’s Birmingham office for 15 years but also because of his extensive involvement in and contribution to the community and the arts in Birmingham.

Continuing with this theme, the Ronnie Bowker Foundation is focused on assisting on the arts, culture, education and training. 

The fund has already raised over half of  its £100,000 target and it has made donations to such local causes as a scout group, day workshops in catering for homeless people as well as the Tru Street dance group, a Digbeth-based group which runs dance classes centred in the heart of the community.