Featuring:

• Seymour Taylor celebrates 100 years by raising £12,000 for local and national charities
• Simply Purple visits Downing Street to help celebrate DrugFAM
• westfourstreet nominated for Milton Keynes Business Achievement Awards
• £20 Million Merger Between IBB Solicitors and Turbervilles Solicitors
• Young entrepreneur celebrates his first year
• Aylesbury business thought to be first to accept Bitcoins
• Spaces available at Young People’s Counselling Service in Aylesbury
• Sir Anthony Seldon joins Bucks Mind as Patron

Seymour Taylor celebrates 100 years by raising £12,000 for local and national charities

High Wycombe based accountancy firm, Seymour Taylor completed their Centenary year of fundraising in style by taking part in the Rotary Clubs of Marlow Santa Fun Run at Higginson Park on Sunday 3rd December.

Ten employees and family members donned Santa’s famous red suit and running shoes and ran the 5k route, raising funds for the Rotary Clubs of Marlow and Child Bereavement UK, which supports families when a baby or child of any age dies or is dying or when a child faces bereavement. The charity also trains professionals, such as teachers, midwives and police officers to help them better understand and meet the needs of the grieving families they come into contact with in their daily working life.

Ruth Sanger, Regional Fundraising & Communications Manager at Child Bereavement UK said: “We know, from the families that we support, that Christmas can be a particularly difficult time when someone important has died. Raising funds and awareness at this time of year therefore seems particularly poignant and we are extremely grateful to Seymour Taylor for all their hard work and enthusiasm.”

Simon Turner, Managing Director and one of the ten runners from the Seymour Taylor team said: “The Santa Run was really good fun and we’ve thoroughly enjoyed our year of raising funds and awareness for some fantastic local causes, including Child Bereavement UK. We like to challenge ourselves and have held a number of fundraising activities and events throughout the year. Knowing that our efforts will make a difference to so many people has been a real motivating factor. I’m so proud of my team and all that they have achieved for charities during 2017”.

Simply Purple visits Downing Street to help celebrate DrugFAM

On Monday 27th November, Diane Thomas of Simply Purple Web Design Agency in High Wycombe attended a reception hosted by Theresa May at No 10 Downing Street.

Simply Purple, who are Stakeholder members of Buckinghamshire Business First, designed, developed and now support DrugFAMs website and as a result were invited to attend the reception.

The event was held to celebrate the achievements of DrugFAM and for them to thank their staff, volunteers, trustees and key supporters. Guest included Steve Baker MP, Commander Simon Bray, Professor John Kelly, Sir Anthony Seldon, and Victoria Atkins MP. Special guest Sharon Osbourne gave the introductory speech and Theresa May hosted the event and gave the main speech of the evening, in which she congratulated DrugFAM on their many achievements.

westfourstreet nominated for Milton Keynes Business Achievement Awards

Web design agency westfourstreet have been named finalists in the Best Use of Social Media category at the Milton Keynes Business Achievement Awards, and have reached the final round of judging for the Design & Creativity Award.

The social media award nomination is for their work on a video shot in the Spanish mountain for Montana Adventures that achieved great coverage on social media and led to some great outcomes for the client.

£20 Million Merger Between IBB Solicitors and Turbervilles Solicitors

The £20million merger between Iliffes Booth Bennett (IBB) Solicitors and Turbervilles Solicitors marks the first stage of IBB Solicitor’s ambitions to invest and diversify client service offering and grow to £30 million turnover by 2023.

As a result of the merger, which will be completed on 1st January 2018, the firm will boost its breadth of services for its strong client base across West London, the Western Home Counties and the Thames Valley regions.

The firm will have 225 people in 20 teams based in Uxbridge, Chesham and Chorleywood, with a combined turnover of £20m. The merger marks the first stage of IBB’s strategy to build a distinctive, resilient firm with enough critical mass to serve a range of commercial and private clients across the region. Following the merger, the firm climbs 20 positions to #113 in the UK law firm rankings (based on turnover).

Young entrepreneur celebrates his first year

Thomas Wylam, a final-year pupil at Princes Risborough Upper School, has completed a productive year developing his business idea, Cupcycl, after winning first prize in the Small Business Saturday Young Entrepreneurs Competition, held in Thame last December. The competition, which was sponsored by Buckinghamshire Business First member CarmichaelUK, a specialist civil engineering and construction recruitment company headquartered in Thame, was open to young entrepreneurs under the age of 30 who had a great business idea and were based in Buckinghamshire or Oxfordshire. 

Cupcycl is a waste management project that aims to reduce the number of throwaway cups being disposed of via landfill by providing the infrastructure for throwaway cups to be properly recycled and turned into new goods. On completing his first year, Thomas said: “Thame’s Young Entrepreneur Competition gave me the opportunity to take an idea and run with it. It's fantastic to have gone through this process and get to where I am now, with a project that brings something unique to the local area.

“Thanks to the event sponsor, CarmichaelUK, the prize included not only the financial means to start up CupCycl, but also 12 months of mentoring. This helped me develop my scheme so that I could exhibit at Thame Food Festival, where I recycled the cups of over 1,200 visitors to my stand.”

Thomas drew praise from his three mentors, who gave their time free of charge - Jackie Jarvis, business and sales coach; Sarah Fletcher of social media experts Mushroom Souffle; and Jemima King of Richardson’s Chartered Accountants, a Partner investor of Buckinghamshire Business First.

Aylesbury business thought to be first to accept Bitcoins

Alcom Computing believe they have become the first business in Aylesbury to accept digital currency Bitcoins.

Bitcoins are a virtual currency created in 2009 by an anonymous person. They are, essentially, long codes instead of physical coins and are currently valued at approximately £112 billion worldwide. This value of Bitcoins has recently been buoyed by an unprecedented surge in people investing in this digital currency.

Consequently, people all over Aylesbury Vale that have invested in this virtual currency are looking to deal with local businesses that accept Bitcoin as a form of payment. Responding to this surge, Alcom Computing, a locally based computer repair and telecoms company, believe they have become the first business in the Aylesbury Vale to offer Bitcoins as an acceptable method of payment.

Alcom Computing MD, Abraham Almosawi, hopes this will pave the way for other local businesses to follow suit and also offer Bitcoin as an acceptable form of payment. He says: “To support our customers we are always at the cutting edge of technology, which is why I believe that Bitcoin is going to be the future of currency all over the world. More importantly, it gives our customers more choice and flexibility when choosing to do business with us.”

According to an independent website, Alcom is going to be the first business in the Aylesbury Vale area to accept the new digital currency. Paying for goods and services using Bitcoin at Alcom Computing is easy once you have a ‘wallet’ app on a mobile phone such as Blockchain. Simply launch the app, scan the QR code printed on invoices, displayed in stores or on the business website, type the amount and press send.

Spaces available at Young People’s Counselling Service in Aylesbury

Buckinghamshire Mind, the mental health charity, is actively taking referrals to its Young People’s Counselling Service in Aylesbury. The service, for 11 to 18 year olds, provides counsellors who work one-to-one with young people experiencing anxiety, depression, loss, difficulties with anger, recovery from traumatic events or other mental health difficulties. There is currently no waiting list for this service.

The sessions are subsidised through a grant from Aylesbury Vale District Council and are charged on a sliding scale dependent on individual financial circumstances. This means that the service is able to help young people who urgently need support but cannot afford private therapy or do not meet criteria for statutory services.

To find out more about Buckinghamshire Mind’s Young People’s Counselling Service, please call 01494 463364 or visit www.bucksmind.org.uk.

Sir Anthony Seldon joins Bucks Mind as Patron

Sir Anthony Seldon, Vice-Chancellor of The University of Buckingham and one of Britain’s leading contemporary historians, educationalists, commentators and political authors, is now supporting the mental health charity Buckinghamshire Mind as Patron.

Sir Anthony Seldon said: “Helping to promote better mental health is of paramount importance to me. More people than ever are suffering from mental health problems, with levels of anxiety and depression in young people having reached crisis point, so it's an issue that I feel very strongly about. I believe that urgently improving the mental wellbeing of our young people is currently the most pressing mental health issue. It is vital that we stem the tide by teaching skills such as resilience and leadership, which will help to stop problems from arising in the first place.”

Sir Anthony Seldon was a ‘transformative Head’ for 20 years, first of Brighton College and then Wellington College, where he introduced mindfulness and wellbeing sessions for the students. The University of Buckingham, for which Sir Anthony Seldon is Vice-Chancellor, has become the UK’s first Positive University, where the emphasis is on the holistic approach to education and ensuring that students are supported to enable them to flourish as individuals as well as academically.

Andrea McCubbin, Chief Executive, Buckinghamshire Mind, said: “I am delighted to welcome Sir Anthony Seldon to Buckinghamshire Mind on behalf of our board of trustees, staff, volunteers and service users. We really appreciate having the support of such an authoritative and influential figure who sees good mental health as a key priority.”

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If your news has a charity angle, it could be perfect for our next charity newsletter on January 25th 2018. Email news@bbf.uk.com to find out more.