Florence Nightingale Hospice Charity seeks event sponsors

This October, Florence Nightingale Hospice Charity is organising two of its largest fundraising events: Colour Rush and the Aylesbury Beer Festival. Both events rely on corporate sponsorship to cover some of the costs, which offers a great opportunity for companies to reach potential customers.

Sponsor a Colour Station at the Colour Rush event

Could you sponsor a Colour Station at the Colour Rush event at Green Park, Aston Clinton, on October 8th?

The stations are positioned around the running course and are where the entrants have powdered paint thrown over them. Past sponsors have brought along a team to man their station and throw the paint. It gets very messy and is certainly a more unusual team- building exercise! The charity is looking for sponsors for this large family-centred event for the red, blue, green and yellow stations. Opportunities also exist to sponsor the medals and the runner numbers. Covering these costs will help towards the goal of raising £25,000 for Florrie’s Children’s Team. For more details, please contact Vicky James at vickyjames@fnhospice.org.uk.

Aylesbury Beer Festival sponsorship

Florence Nightingale Hospice Charity is also launching its annual search for local businesses and individuals to sponsor a barrel of beer at this year’s Aylesbury Beer Festival on October 27th and 28th. Covering the cost of the beer through sponsorship is key to the success of the festival, which aims to raise £6,000 for the charity.

This year the festival has a new venue: the Sir Henry Floyd Grammar School, which promises to make it bigger and better than before. On the Saturday there will be live music all day and also the return of the Sausage Festival, featuring local sausages from King’s Farm Shop in Wendover.

Barrel sponsorship costs £120. The sponsor’s package includes an advert in the Beer Festival Programme, your beer barrel labelled, and recognition on the charity website and social media accounts.

For full details please contact Emma Carroll on 01296 429975 or emmacarroll@fnhospice.org.uk. More information on both of these events can be found at http://www.fnhospice.org.uk/events/.

Sponsor a flower bed at Lindengate to support their vital work

Lindengate charity would like to announce a new 'Limited Edition' sponsorship opportunity. 2019 sponsorship is now open. They only have a few remaining raised beds available for sponsorship. For just £500 for the year, companies can sponsor their own flower bed with their logo displayed on a plaque visible to visitors. The sponsorship fee will go towards supporting four seasonal flower displays throughout 2019 that are created by Lindengate Gardeners (their term for service users). This provides Gardeners with social and therapeutic horticulture activities throughout the year and goes towards supporting people with mental health needs in their continuing recovery.

Lindengate is a mental health charity that offers specialised gardening activities to help those with mental health needs in their continuing recovery. Their services, known as Social and Therapeutic Horticulture (STH), use the healing power of nature and the outdoors to improve mental well-being, boost self-esteem, promote social inclusion and encourage long-term recovery. Getting people out of their homes and mixing with others outdoors is a catalyst to break down their social isolation and encourage recovery. STH is recognised to be beneficial for a wide range of mental health needs including anxiety, depression, and loneliness, as well as for people with autism, dementia and head injuries. 

For more information on sponsorship, please contact Zohar Marer: zohar.marer@lindengate.org.uk / 01296 622443.

Join the wellbeing revolution and help a local school!

Brilliant Schools is a new wellbeing subscription service for schools, providing a series of high quality videos and activities for staff, pupils (Primary and Secondary) and parents, as well as a series of bonus materials for assemblies and class discussions.

They are giving businesses the opportunity to sponsor a Brilliant Schools subscription for a local school/group of schools. Schools are seeking the help of Brilliant Schools, but their budgets are tight. As a business, you can help. Starting at only £1,495 for a 1-year subscription for a primary school, your sponsorship would address your organisation’s corporate social responsibility by contributing to a programme that will build mental wellbeing and resilience within your local community.

Brilliant Schools is brought to you by the people from The Art of Brilliance and Buckinghamshire Learning Trust, two established, leading, not-for-profit organisations with one common goal... to improve the future of wellbeing in our schools.

Contact the Brilliant Schools Team at hello@brilliant.school or call 01296 872342 to donate a subscription to a school/group of schools or to discuss the opportunity further. Follow them on Twitter at @Brill_Schools.

Fundraiser & Secretary required at Careers Springboard charity

Careers Springboard is a registered charity providing help and guidance to redundant and unemployed professionals and graduates who seek employment. They are entirely volunteer staffed and have been helping people in the South Bucks area and wider to get new jobs faster for over 25 years.

They run a programme of weekly Monday evening meetings (in Gerrards Cross) on job search skills such as CV preparation, internet job search, interview practice, telephone techniques, networking, LinkedIn, etc. They also offer career coaching and related services.

Joining Careers Springboard as a volunteer provides unique opportunities for those who wish to benefit the community, enhance a personal sense of achievement and be part of a team that gets things done.

Fundraising volunteer required

Although volunteer-led, in order to meet its financial/operational commitments, Careers Springboard requires £5,000 of funding annually. A Fundraiser volunteer is required who has skills in putting a case together for potential sponsors, opening up new contacts and approaching organisations to interest them in supporting this charity’s goals. Time commitment can be flexible but the role will require regular time input of at least a day a fortnight.

Volunteer secretary required

A volunteer Secretary is required to ensure that Executive Committee meetings (four per year) and other meetings are properly administered, to work with the Treasurer to ensure that the list of Trustees is up-to-date and accurate for the Annual Report that goes to the Charity Commissioners, and to ensure that policies are regularly reviewed.

The volunteer will be organised and methodical, able to keep accurate records, develop knowledge of the Careers Springboard Constitution and Charity Commissioner's requirements for a small charity, and be able to give clear and authoritative advice on procedural matters.

Time commitment will principally be organising and taking minutes at four committee meetings per year and occasionally assisting at the weekly Monday evening meetings. Ideally the volunteer will be able to offer in addition 2-3 hours admin/secretarial work per week.

To apply or to find out more, please contact Richard Lambert, Executive Committee & Trustee, at richardlambert@talktalk.net.

‘Bucks Buoys’ rowing the Atlantic for Macmillan Cancer Support

Four local men are rowing the Atlantic in 2019 for Macmillan Cancer Support. The four and their families have been affected by cancer and are currently training and planning their huge adventure to raise funds. The 'Bucks Buoys' hope to raise over £200,000 in sponsorship and donations.

They are holding a fundraising event at David Lloyd Beaconsfield on September 22nd which features a silent auction with some great prizes, including a Jaguar F-Type for the weekend, a trip for 2 on the Bucks Buoys’ ocean rowing boat, a flight in a Cessna light aircraft for 2 people, 1 year David Lloyd Beaconsfield membership, a spa day and treatment at Amida Spa, and a goodie bag from Mercedes Benz.

The men are taking on the world renowned Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge. Rowing 3,000 miles unaided across the Atlantic Ocean, the experience promises to be the challenge of a lifetime, testing them physically, mentally and emotionally. The 'Buoys' are determined to succeed through extreme weather and punishing conditions – and aim to do so in under 38 days. Setting off from San Sebastian in La Gomera, Canary Islands, they will have to navigate the vast and wild Atlantic Ocean to the finish line in Antigua & Barbuda.

If you would like to sponsor the 'Bucks Buoys, read more about this inspiring journey here, and get in touch with them at bucksbuoys@gmail.com.

Can you support OK Our Kids’ ‘Mistakes and Ladders’ game to help protect children?

OK Our Kids was the inspired idea of Tony and Lynn Churchill. Tony is a former Police Community Support Officer and, through his work in primary schools and the wider community, he recognised the need for a new initiative to develop resources specifically designed to educate, inform and empower primary school children to stay safe in the community and online.

OK Our Kids is a Community Interest Company which pledges to return at least 50% of any monies it makes over the project cost back to the local community for further good projects to assist young people with the challenges they face today and every day. OK Our Kids also provides help, guidance and counselling to families that have already been affected by events involving child safety and protection.

However, they have found that some children need a more hands-on interactive activity to appreciate the message of staying safe in today's world. Did you realise there are over 27 different subjects that regularly come up as areas of concern with youngsters? These include stranger danger, how to say no, family danger, cyber bullying, racial and cultural prejudice, peer pressure anxieties and safety in the home. All of these subjects and more can be covered in a non-threatening or frightening way with OK Our Kids' new Mistakes and Ladders Game.

They have patented the concept, got some awesome design work done, and proofed the mock up. What they need now is the funds to produce this new educational board game for primary school children so that they can get it into schools as soon as possible

The game will be given free of charge to schools to use as a tool in supporting young children with the skills and knowledge to enjoy their childhood in safety.

Find out more and donate here.

IT support specialist volunteering opportunity at Youth Concern

If you are an experienced IT support specialist who can spare a few hours a month and you’d like to use your skills and expertise helping a charity which supports vulnerable young people in your community, then Youth Concern may have just the opportunity for you! Your IT expertise will provide essential support to a local charity, enabling them to maintain and improve their IT systems, allowing them to continue to make a real difference to the lives of vulnerable young people.

Youth Concern benefits over 500 vulnerable and disadvantaged young people in Aylesbury Vale every year through its holistic support services. Having expanded their reach over the past few years to meet increasing need, they secured their first 3-year Big Lottery Grant at the end of last year. Now, Youth Concern are developing an ambitious, flagship youth homeless accommodation project called “The Next Step”.

It is an exciting time to join the friendly team at Youth Concern and your help will be greatly appreciated as they need reliable IT support now more than ever before. Specifically, they need face to face and remote IT support; someone who can come in 1-2 times per month for a few hours to resolve IT issues that have arisen, as well as offer occasional advice and help over the phone.

If this opportunity interests you and you’d like to find out more, please contact Youth Concern Chief Executive Fran Borg-Wheeler: fran@youthconcern.org.uk or 07730 666608.

Local man’s 50km trek in aid of Parkinson’s UK

Local man Jack Douglass is taking on a 50km trek across the Chiltern Hills to raise money for Parkinson’s UK.

Jack, Broadband Programme Manager at Buckinghamshire Thames Valley Local Enterprise Partnership, explains: “On 29th September, come rain or shine, I will be trekking 50km (or 31 miles for those, like me, who don't understand km) across the Chiltern Hills in aid of Parkinson's UK.

"It's estimated that 1 in every 350 adults has Parkinson's disease, a debilitating illness which can cause tremors in movement and stiffness in joints which can make basic tasks like walking very difficult. Personally, my Granddad is affected by Parkinson's, as well as a type of dementia.”

Jack has a Just Giving page for anyone interested in learning more and donating to the cause.

National Autistic Society needs your help

The National Autistic Society in South Bucks is urgently in need of support from volunteers, and is at risk of closing down if none is forthcoming.

Email Rhiane.Green@nas.org.uk for more information on how you can help. Any support will be greatly appreciated.

Can you help a school in Ethiopia?

The charity PFC Ethiopia has been raising money for Gende Tesfa School in Ethiopia, funding a Breakfast Club, small business training for 100 women and a sports ground for the school.

Unfortunately, funding has run out for the Breakfast Club, and so more than 230 kids are going to school without breakfast. The charity is trying to raise more than £20,000 to help them.

You can find more information here, and visit the Virgin Money donation page here.

Can you offer work placements to local students?

The Buckinghamshire Learning Trust is on the lookout for inspiring companies to support local students with work placements.

Find out more about this opportunity here.

Sponsor racing driver Anton Spires

Get your company brand on Anton’s race suit and car as he competes in the final two rounds of the the Renault UK Clio Cup, supporting the British Touring Car Championship.

The races take place at Silverstone and Brands Hatch later this September and are broadcast live on ITV4. Part of the sponsorship includes attending the races and benefiting from corporate hospitality.

Find out more information here.