Higgs & Sons raises nearly £30,000 for Princes’s Trust

BLACK Country law firm Higgs & Sons has been thanked for raising almost £30,000 for The Prince’s Trust over the last two years.

As the Black Country firm’s nominated charity for 2013 and 2014, staff raised £27,106.50 through a variety of events, fundraisers and partnerships.

Sonia Kaur, corporate partnership manager for The Prince’s Trust, said: “I am overwhelmed by the commitment Higgs & Sons has shown to The Prince’s Trust for two years now.”
 
The Higgs corporate social responsibility programme is headed up by Tim Jones. He said: “The success of our CSR programme has been the support from our people who have demonstrated a clear desire to help the community in which they live and work – community matters.

“Overall we have had a fantastic couple of years, and we have been absolutely delighted to have been part of The Prince’s Trust in supporting young people within the Dudley area.”

In 2014 Higgs undertook a number of fundraising events for The Prince’s Trust including a ‘bike ride to Rio’, a 5-a-side football competition, an All Stars football match against Aston Villa Football Club and a charity quiz.

Inspire Insurance Services comes to aid of children’s hospice

THE only dedicated children’s hospice in Coventry and Warwickshire has been given a welcome boost in hitting its £1 million a year fundraising target.

Zoë’s Place Baby Hospice in Ash Green, Coventry, has been able to replace its worn-out bear mascot thanks to the generosity of a local company.

The boss of Inspire Insurance Services put up the £2,000 needed to make the new Zoë’s Bear, a giant costume worn at fundraising events and to help raise awareness of the hospice.

Zoë’s Place was recently given the go ahead to open round-the-clock for the first time since launching in 2011 and needs to raise £1 million every year to enable it to keep its doors open 24/7 for families that rely on its expert care.

Mick McCann, fundraising manager at Zoë’s Place, said: “Most people in Coventry and Warwickshire recognise Zoë’s Place via the bear. It is iconic in terms of what the hospice does.

“The bear is a fantastic mascot to go out into the local community to encourage people to show their support by making a donation but it was well-worn after so much use and had reached a bad state of disrepair.”

Flybe fundraising reaches £500,000

FLYBE’S partnership with Cancer Research UK is set to to hit an impressive landmark.

Europe’s largest regional airline – and Birmingham Airport’s largest carrier in passenger volume terms – has been helping the charity beat cancer, sooner, since 2009 through a range of fundraising initiatives involving staff and passengers alike.

It is expected that its latest four week campaign will bring the total amount raised by Flybe since the start of its chosen charity partnership to more than £500,000.
 
Flybe’s chief commercial officer Paul Simmons said: “We’re delighted to have extended our partnership with Cancer Research UK and help contribute towards its life-saving research.

“The charity was the clear winner of our staff vote and we have an overwhelming level of support from both our employees and passengers.”

Business professionals don their thinking caps to help hospice

PRINT management company Colour Cubed attracted 17 teams to a successful quiz night that the Halesowen-based firm hosted at the Library of Birmingham.

The quiz, which was supported by accountants Chantrey Vellacott, saw more than 100 people take part and raise funds to help Birmingham St Mary’s Hospice’s work caring for terminally ill patients.

Colour Cubed’s clients and professional contacts went head-to-head across nine rounds of brain-teasing questions, with a team from EFG Independent Financial Advisers ending up victorious on the night.

Simon Greenfield, director at Colour Cubed, said: “We are grateful to all the teams that joined us which made for a fantastic night in aid of a great cause.

“Nearly everyone who took part will know family or friends who have been touched by the brilliant job the team at Birmingham St Mary’s Hospice do in caring for patients and we’re delighted to have been able to help their fundraising.”

Hamish Shilliday, community fundraising manager at Birmingham St Mary’s Hospice, said: “We’d like to offer a huge thank-you to Colour Cubed for hosting a fantastic quiz night – we had a great time and we’re so pleased such an incredible amount was raised.”