B P Collins announces winners of £10,000 stewardship fund

After nearly 70 charities in Buckinghamshire were nominated to be recipients of B P Collins’ stewardship fund through Heart of Bucks, five were selected to visit its office in Gerrards Cross on October 16th. The charities were chosen for best reflecting B P Collins’ CSR values: building stronger communities, providing better futures and helping create safer lives.

B P Collins employees turned up to meet the charities to find out more about their work and how they benefited the local community before voting on how much of the £10,000 fund each would receive.

B P Collins is delighted to announce that Bucks Mind, The Princes Risborough Centre, Chiltern Child Contact Centre, Alexander Jansons Fund, and Prestwood Youth and Community Action Group will all receive grants. The funding will help each charity deliver their goals of making a positive social impact and improving lives.

Now in its fourth year, B P Collins’ stewardship fund has given away £40,000 to charities throughout Buckinghamshire. In 2018, B P Collins was awarded a gold mark in the recently launched Corporate Social Responsibility Accreditation scheme, a visible testimony of excellence in CSR.

One step, splash & pedal closer to RED January 2019

RED January, a month-long community initiative, encourages people to get active every day, to support their mental health. In 2019, you can now take part in RED January in aid of Buckinghamshire Mind, ensuring that you can not only support your own mental health wellbeing but also that of local people experiencing a mental health problem.

You can walk, run, swim, cycle (whatever you fancy!), the aim is to get moving daily, whilst raising awareness and support for mental health. It gives people a focus during a characteristically tough month and supports ‘REDers’ through its online community.

“The focus of RED January is on a flexible exercise schedule that suits the individual so it’s very accessible. You can set your goals to suit you, making the initiative meaningful to each person,” says Andrea McCubbin, Chief Executive of Buckinghamshire Mind.

“By taking part in aid of Buckinghamshire Mind, you will be supporting our vital local mental health services, including befriending, counselling, training, peer support groups, children and young people’s services, wellbeing groups and our older adults’ service.”

RED is founded on research that shows physical activity can have a positive impact on your mental wellbeing and even reduce symptoms of mental illness such as depression and anxiety. In the post RED January 2018 survey, 87% of REDers reported feeling significantly better physically and mentally after getting active every day.

Anyone wishing to fundraise, can now do so for Buckinghamshire Mind. The money raised supports the charity’s vital work in the local community, helping to fund mental health services in Buckinghamshire and ensuring everyone experiencing a mental health problem gets the help and respect they deserve.

To take part in RED January 2019, register for free by January 3rd, here >

Florence Nightingale Hospice Charity partners with The Share Centre

The employees of The Share Centre in Aylesbury have voted to support Florence Nightingale Hospice Charity (FNHC) for two years, starting in January 2019, coinciding with the start of the charity’s 30th anniversary celebrations. The partnership will take multiple forms, with the Share Centre team taking on physical challenges to raise money, volunteering for the charity, and also donating expertise to support the charity’s own staff development.

Emma Carroll, the new Partnerships Manager at FNHC, said, “This is a very exciting time for us. Having a two year partnership will allow both us and The Share Centre the time to build a meaningful relationship and allow the team there to fully see the impact that their support is having.”

FNHC has created the role of Partnerships Manager to generate better links with the local business community, many of whom already provide fantastic support to the Hospice and benefit from the PR value of an association with this much-loved local charity.

2019 is the 30th anniversary of the Hospice opening, and there will be plenty of opportunities for local businesses to get involved to help FNHC celebrate this milestone.

To get involved, please contact Emma on 01296 429975 or via email at emmacarroll@fnhospice.org.uk.

activereach celebrates its beloved charities

activereach invited local charities Thames Valley Air Ambulance and Hearing Dogs for Deaf People to its offices recently – both charities had previously been chosen by activereach staff as their “charities of the year”. The charities delivered presentations to the activereach staff, involving real-life stories of their life-changing work.

Each year, activereach donates 5% of it its profits to local charities, reflecting its commitment to the local community and empowering its staff to make a difference. Today, employees were rewarded with a fun “playtime” with six of the Hearing Dogs’ ambassador puppies in attendance at the presentation.

RP Fighting Blindness rebrands to Retina UK

RP Fighting Blindness, the leading UK charity dedicated solely to working for people affected by inherited retinal conditions, has rebranded to Retina UK. As well as a new name and visual identity, it has developed a new website: www.RetinaUK.org.uk.

Retina UK works for people affected by a range of inherited retinal dystrophies including retinitis pigmentosa, Stargardt disease, Usher syndrome, cone-rod dystrophy, choroideremia, and Leber congenital amaurosis.

The charity drives and funds medical research into inherited retinal conditions and provides information and support for those affected. It has invested more than £16 million into eye research since it was founded 42 years ago.

Chief Executive, Tina Houlihan, said the new brand marked a step change for the charity: “Our new name and logo mark a pivotal moment for our charity and we are hugely excited by the opportunities that lay ahead. Our aims remain unchanged; we simply want to do more of what we do best, which is funding and stimulating ground-breaking medical research and providing high quality support for those affected by inherited sight loss conditions."

Strengthening local youth services: Co-op Foundation invitations to tender

As part of the Co-op Foundation's Building Connections Fund Youth strand, they are inviting tenders from organisations with the right skills and expertise to deliver two key contracts to tackle youth loneliness by strengthening local youth services.

Two invitations to tenders opened on Tuesday 6th November 2018, for:

• Up to £85,000 (including VAT) to develop and support the ‘Belong’ Learning Network
• Up to £150,000 (including VAT) to develop a suite of resources aimed at improving the capabilities of youth workers and youth organisations to tackle loneliness

Both contracts will run to the end of March 2021. Organisations can tender for one or both of these.

Tender responses must be submitted by midday on Monday 3rd December 2018. Contracts will start in January 2019.

Find out more information here >

Read the ‘information for tenderers’ here >

Send us your charity news

If you have any charity-related news like that above, send information to news@bbf.uk.com. Our next charity newsletter will likely go out in March 2019.