Featured opportunities in this article:

• Pop in a Pound for Child Bereavement UK
• Florence Nightingale Hospice Charity seeks event sponsors
• Volunteer with Buckinghamshire’s Enterprising Charity of the Year
• Buckinghamshire Mind after a helping hand
• Support Wycombe Women’s Aid while playing the Wycombe Lotto
• Support Bucks County Council’s mental health awareness campaign
• Action4Youth Caldecotte Team Challenge

Pop in a Pound for Child Bereavement UK

This summer, Child Bereavement UK are collecting as many old £1 coins as they can to support bereaved children and their families.

If your business is able to hold a collection tin from now until the end of September, to enable staff or customers to ‘Pop in their Pound’, then please get in touch with Ruth Sanger on 01494 568 932 or email [email protected].

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 involved in these large-scale mass participation events and offer a great opportunity for companies to reach potential customers.

Could you sponsor a Colour Station at the Colour Rush 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! They are 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 them towards their goal of raising £25,000 for Florrie’s Children’s Team.

For more details please contact Adrian Malduca on 01296 429975 or [email protected].

Aylesbury Beer Festival

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 remains at £110 this year. The sponsor’s package includes an advert in the Beer Festival Programme, your beer barrel labelled, and recognition on the Florence Nightingale Hospice website and social media accounts.

For full details please contact Emma Carroll on 01296 429975 or [email protected]. More information on both these events can be found at www.fnhospice.org.uk/events.

Volunteer with Buckinghamshire’s Enterprising Charity of the Year

Lindengate, the Enterprising Charity of the Year at the Buckinghamshire Business Awards 2017, has a summer break every year when the gardeners (the service users) have a rest. But for the volunteers it is probably the busiest week of the year, for this is when Volunteer Week begins. This year the week runs from August 7th-11th.

Last year, in just one week, Lindengate’s volunteers constructed two ponds, laid accessible paths and lawns in the Sensory Garden and built a huge earthwork nicknamed “The Giant’s Armchair” that now provides an elevated platform with views across the garden and a wildflower haven for the Lindengate bees.

This year Lindengate, a mental health charity based in Wendover, is looking for volunteers to help build two log cabins given by kind benefactors, although there are plenty of lighter tasks to do as well. It’s an opportunity for giving back to the community which local companies can tap into.

Lindengate volunteer coordinator, Diane Kolonko, says: “It is a great time to try out volunteering, as there are tasks to suit everybody. So whether you want to help build a log cabin or try something less energetic, know lots about gardening or are a complete novice, can work all week or have just an afternoon to spare, there will be a job for you! Volunteer week is great fun and is a wonderful opportunity to get more involved in the community.”

Volunteer Week is open to small businesses

“This year, we’re opening up our Volunteer week to small businesses, those with 5 or less employees,” says Diane. “We’re aware that it’s not easy to find team building/volunteer days for small numbers of employees at the right price. You’re welcome to join us for a half or full day - or longer if you want!” Email [email protected] or call 01296 622443 for further information.

Companies can find out more about corporate volunteer days for 5 or more people by going to www.lindengate.org.uk/vol-corporate.html.

As an individual, if you would like to take part in Lindengate's Volunteer Week or try out volunteering on a more long-term basis, download a volunteer application form at www.lindengate.org.uk/volunteers.html.

Buckinghamshire Mind after a helping hand

Buckinghamshire Mind, the mental health charity, is asking local businesses if they might be able to help refurbish their well-loved and very well used counselling rooms in Aylesbury and High Wycombe.

The aim is to provide a comfortable and welcoming, rather than clinical, environment for counselling clients. However, as financial resources are focussed on delivering frontline services, the charity does not have the funds to make this happen. They are very keen to improve the environment in the counselling rooms and make them more inviting, which will help put clients at ease. It also increases the self-worth of their clients when they arrive in a well-furnished room because it encourages them to understand that those at Buckinghamshire Mind think they are worth investing in and, therefore, it helps them to attribute worth to themselves.

Buckinghamshire Mind is an independent, self-funding charity working to support and represent people with mental health problems living across the county by providing high quality services. These services find positive ways to make people feel valued and live safe, purposeful and fulfilled lives in their communities. They pledge to not give up until everyone in the county with a mental health problem gets both support and respect.

“We would be extremely grateful for any donation that local businesses might be able to provide,” says Kaya Mallinder, Buckinghamshire Mind. “We are requesting donations of armchairs, small coffee tables, lamps, free-standing lamps, pictures, bookcases and small sideboards or for a financial donation to enable us to purchase these items.”

If you would like to discuss this further or would like any additional information, please contact Kaya Mallinder, Fundraising and Communications Officer, on 07930 729606 or email [email protected].

Support Wycombe Women’s Aid while playing the Wycombe Lotto

Wycombe Women’s Aid have recently signed up the Wycombe Lotto scheme, enabling people to support this great cause and potentially win prizes of up to £25,000.

To support Wycombe Women’s Aid, buy your ticket for the Lotto on the Women’s Aid page. Tickets only cost £1 per week and 50% of all proceeds from tickets sold on the Women’s Aid page will go directly to the charity. A further 10% goes other good causes in Wycombe District.

To support Wycombe Women’s Aid, visit the Wycombe Lotto website and search for ‘Women’s Aid’.

Support Bucks County Council’s mental health awareness campaign

Mrs Patricia Birchley, Chairman of Buckinghamshire County Council and Mr Peter Kara, High Sheriff of Buckinghamshire, will be using their year in office to promote mental health awareness in the workplace at a series of events around Buckinghamshire.

This will include a conference on mental health and a reception at a prestigious Buckinghamshire venue. They would very much like to invite local business leaders to support their campaign by placing an advert in the mental health awareness souvenir programme or supporting their campaign in any way that they can.

Patricia also hopes to raise funds for a number of mental health related charities and she will divide the proceeds between her chosen charities at the end of her year in office. 

If you would like to support the Chairman and the High Sheriff please contact Mr Joe Bradshaw, the Executive Assistant to the Chairman by email: [email protected].

Action4Youth Caldecotte Team Challenge

Teams of 4 are wanted for the Caldecotte Team Challenge in September in aid of Action4Youth. Test yourselves against a whole range of obstacles and challenges - you’ll climb, abseil, negotiate the scramble wall, go underground in the caving system, try out archery, go canoeing on the lake, run round the beautiful lake and finally wade the river on your way to the finish. It’s challenging, exhilarating, great fun and open to all!

All proceeds will help Action4Youth give young people inspirational experiences and life skills, no matter what their background, abilities or disabilities. For more or to sign up email [email protected].