HAZLEWOODS ON TRACK TO RAISE £100,000 FOR MAGGIE’S

Employees from Gloucestershire accountants Hazlewoods, along with family and friends, took on the Hazlewoods Run1000 challenge at Gloucester Athletics Club, raising money for cancer charity Maggie’s.

The challenge to get as many people as possible running 10 kilometres was just one of many activities taking place this year, as Hazlewoods aims to raise £100,000 for its chosen charity of the year. By the end of September, the accountancy practice had raised more than £72,000. Maggie’s provides free support to people with cancer and their family and friends, following the ideas about cancer care originally laid out by Maggie Keswick Jencks.

Built in the grounds of NHS cancer hospitals, Maggie’s Centres have professional staff on hand to offer the support people need.

Jutexpo joins charity forces with Caroline Gardner and Waitrose

Worcestershire-based Jutexpo, the world’s biggest supplier of eco-friendly reusable bags, has joined forces with Waitrose and designer Caroline Gardner to produce shopping bags in aid of UK charity, Meningitis Now.

The range includes handy pouch bags made from recycled plastic bottles, manufactured using Jutexpo’s HALT™ process, which turns postconsumer plastic into a soft, durable fabric called rPET (recycled polyethylene terephthalate).

“The accountancy practice had raised more than £72,000 raised by the end of September”

It’s a roll-over for cricket club after business support

Leamington Cricket Club has thanked a Warwickshire company for supplying a vital 12th man in its promotion-winning season.

The club sealed promotion to the Birmingham and District League with a win over Tamworth – but its impressive home form had been boosted by the help of the Wigley Group, the Midlands-based property, development and construction company.

When the club’s 50-year-roller broke down, it threw home games into doubt. Wigley Group came to the rescue by sponsoring Coventry-based Clements Plant and Access Hire to source and supply the new roller, allowing the club to continue its promotion-chasing season at home.

Oxfordshire’s professional community raises more than £6K for cancer charities

More than 200 professionals from across the Oxfordshire and Thames Valley business community came together to raise more than £6,000 in just one night for cancer charities, at a special dinner held at Oxford’s Randolph Hotel.

Awareness of face cancer has been raised by John Wilkinson, a deputy area director for HSBC Corporate Banking in Oxfordshire and the Thames Valley. He was approaching 50 years of age, with a family and a busy work life when in 2017, his world was turned upside down.

An aggressive and rare cancerous tumour had appeared on his face. John underwent 30 hours of life-changing maxillofacial surgery across several operations, received almost 400 stitches and then endured further treatments of radiotherapy and chemotherapy.

John has been tireless in his commitment to raise awareness of this rare cancer, with the publication of his book. While he wasn’t well enough to attend the fundraising dinner, his wife Jane and daughter Lois attended on his behalf.

Prime opportunity for young employees to follow their pastimes

A young football referee and a compassionate carer have praised bosses at a West Midlands accountancy firm for helping them to pursue their pastimes.

Semi-professional referee Dan Stokes and care home volunteer Liz McMillan are both benefitting from an innovative flexitime initiative by employers Prime Accountants Group, which has offices in Solihull and Coventry.

The flexible hours, which are offered to all employees at Prime, have allowed aspiring football league official Dan, an accounts senior from Bromsgrove, the time to travel the country for crucial midweek matches, while audit accounts manager Liz, 28, was able to begin volunteering.

Liz, from Redditch, is making a big difference with her Age UK volunteer work at a local care home courtesy of a flexible working day.

Bromsgrove law firm donates £1,950 to cardiac arrest charity

A law firm in Bromsgrove has donated £1,950 to a local charity which campaigns for venues and schools to have lifesaving defibrillators installed.

Lawyers at mfg Solicitors made the donation to the Charlotte and Craig Saving Hearts Foundation after staff raised money throughout the past 12 months.

The Redditch-based charity was set up by parents Rob and Maggie Underwood following the death of their 16-year-old daughter Charlotte in 2010 of Sudden Arrhythmic Death Syndrome. Tragically, three years later the couple’s son Craig, 17, passed away from Vascular Ethos Danlos Syndrome and last January, 19 year-old son Carrick also died due to heart problems.

Storm announces Oxfordshire Mind as official charity partner

Cassington-based Storm Internet has entered into a twoyear partnership with mental health charity Oxfordshire Mind to promote awareness of the charity’s mental health support services. Storm Internet aims to raise £10,000 on behalf of the charity over the partnership.