Wesleyan brings Christmas Day joy to sick children

SANTA will be bringing some festive cheer to sick youngsters at Birmingham Children’s Hospital this Christmas Day thanks to city-based insurance firm Wesleyan.

For the second year in a row, Alun Williams, an area manager at the firm, will be giving up his Christmas Day at home in South Wales to deliver presents as Father Christmas.

He will be helped by his elves – wife Maria and Wesleyan’s charity fundraiser Jessica Wilkes-Reading.

Birmingham Children’s Hospital is Wesleyan’s chosen charity. The business aims to raise £15,000 for the hospital over the festive period, meaning it will have raised more than £250,000 since the start of 2013.

Williams said: “As part of Wesleyan’s fundraising activity, my team of financial consultants and I were determined to raise as much money as possible for Birmingham Children’s Hospital. I thought I should lead the way and volunteered to visit the hospital as Father Christmas on Christmas Day last year.

“It was an incredibly emotional experience, seeing the children in hospital over the festive period. But appearing as Santa really cheered up both them and their families, and I am looking forward to bringing more joy again this year.”

Elinor Eustace, corporate partnerships manager at Birmingham Children’s Hospital, said: “For Alun, Maria and Jessica to take time out of their own Christmas Day to cheer up the children on the wards is an amazing gesture.”

Operation Santa is a big success

HALESOWEN-based Nicklin has said a huge thank you to everyone that has got behind their Operation Santa appeal.

The chartered accountancy firm has once again got involved with the appeal that is run by Dudley Council for Voluntary Services (CVS) and Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council and provides gifts for youngsters from less privileged backgrounds that would otherwise go without Christmas presents.
 
Nicklin’s managing partner Harvey Owen said: “Over 15,000 children in the borough of Dudley are currently living below the poverty line and thousands in the borough will have no present to open on Christmas morning this year.

“Hopefully we’ve gone some way to changing that, and so we also say thanks to Clark’s Archive Services who delivered the presents for us.
 
“Receiving Christmas presents is something that many of us take for granted, but unfortunately there are still many families who will not be able to afford presents for their children, so we hope that these donations will put smiles on the faces of children who otherwise wouldn’t receive anything.”

ADI supports homeless charity through sleep out

STAFF at a Birmingham-based engineering solutions business have helped to raise awareness of youth homelessness in the city, after swapping a cosy Friday night in for cold cardboard shelters as part of a Christmas sleep out event in Birmingham. 
 
The firm, which is headquartered in Kings Norton, raised more than £1,800 in the annual St Basils BIG SleepOut – nearly double its target of £1,000.
 
Group chief executive Alan Lusty, company secretary Tina Lusty, group HR manager Lorna Quigley, group sales and marketing director James Sopwith and technical support manager at adi Healy Compressor Services, Karl Healy, all donned onesies to take part in the charity fundraiser, which this year celebrated its 25th anniversary.
 
St Basils works with young people aged 16-25 who are homeless or at risk of homelessness. It runs prevention, accommodation and support services in Birmingham, Sandwell, Solihull, Worcestershire, the Wyre Forest and Coventry.
 
In total 440 people took part in the event – just over the 414 young people housed by St Basils every night. More than £17,000 has been raised so far.

Secure Trust Bank raises £25,000 for children’s hospital

SOLIHULL-based Secure Trust Bank has presented Birmingham Children’s Hospital with a £25,000 cheque, having partnered with the hospital for less than a year.

In February, Secure Trust Bank pledged that it would raise a total of £50,000 for the hospital over the course of a two-year partnership. Since then, employees at the challenger bank have been abseiling, skydiving and baking cakes, among many other initiatives, to reach their target. Employees also raised £6,000 through their tri-cycle event alone by cycling three routes around Solihull.

Jonathan Wilson, head of marketing and sales at Secure Trust Bank, said: “It was a real honour to present Birmingham Children’s Hospital with a cheque for £25,000.

“The hospital makes a real difference to the thousands of children that they treat each year, and we’re proud to be supporting the fantastic work it does.

“Our staff have made a tremendous effort to raise such a significant amount of money, and we’re determined to make 2015 just as successful.”