ClarkeWood Consulting are currently supporting Sight Concern as part of our CSR and wanted to help spread the word on this amazing offer being run in conjunction with local Solicitors Parkinson Wright.
Hurry and book your place to avoid missing out!
The Worcester office of Parkinson Wright is participating in a Make a Will promotion benefiting Sight Concern, Worcestershire’s charity supporting blind and partially sighted people. Discountedwills are available for appointments during the week of Mon 11th-Friday 15th February 2013.
If this is of interest to your colleagues, family or friends, please do forward on the details below.
£70 for a simple single will, £100 for a double and Sight Concern receives the whole donation (THIS IS AT A GREAT DISCOUNT, AT LEAST HALF THE USUAL PRICE!!!)
Appointments are available at Parkinson Wright offices in Droitwich, Evesham and Worcester
If you don’t yet have a will, you can Book an Appointment Now!
If you would like to find out more about the work of Sight Concern, please do contact Fiona on fiona@sightconcern.co.uk or visit www.sightconcern.co.uk
On Saturday Evening some of the ClarkeWood Team and our Guests enjoyed an evening of glitz and glamour!
From ball gowns to Bubbly.... this event had it all!
The 'Black Tie' Worcestershire Ambassadors Ball was certainly the place to be this weekend. The annual event is a fantastic charity fundraiser and a great celebration of local business and all things Worcestershire!
This years worthy causes are WRASASC and St Pauls Hostel. WRASASC is a specialist centre which helps victims of rape and sexual abuse by offering counselling and guidence among other valuable services. St Pauls Hostel is based just outside Worcester City Centre and gives homeless people shelter, food and training to help them back into the community.
The Ambassadors Ball was held at the fab Tree Tops Pavilion which is situated inside the grounds of the West Midlands Safari Park. The evening involved great company, lovely food and provided lots of different ways to donate to charities - including a Diamond Hunt, an Auction and a rather luxurious raffle!
Spectacular entertainment was provided by mesmerising magician David Penn and the utterly excellent 'In The Groove' who got us all up dancing dodgily!
The Charity Auction offered some incredible prizes! These included holidays in some of the worlds plushest resorts and VIP boxes in Worcestershires premier sporting venues. The auction raised a MASSIVE:
£47,000!
There are plenty of Thank You's and Well Done's to be said for the evening but we'd like to start with the award winners from the evening:
Ambassador of the Year
Philip Dutton
A huge 'Congrats!' to Philip who has done an admirable job as the Chairman of the Worcestershire Ambassadors for almost two years.
Michael Brinton Pride of Worcestershire
Dale Parmenter
MD at drp Group
Local businessman Dale's outstanding, inspiring charity work, including commiting to complete 30 charity projects each year, and his efforts towards supporting sustainability has led to him being awarded with the Pride of Worcestershire award!
We would also like to say a massive 'Thank you!' to:
Tracey Hopkins
and her team for organising the event and making it a huge success!
The board of Management at the Worcestershire Ambassadors
The Staff at the West Midlands Safari Park
and finally - The Ambassadors and their guests themselves for being fantastic party people and great company!
Describe yourself in a few words: Fiercely independent, ambitious, considerate and easy going.
Victoria, 26, has been working at ClarkeWood Consulting for just over 18 months. Victoria sources Open Source, Marketing, Business Analyst and Project Management staff mainly in Worcestershire and the West Midlands.
What is your biggest professional achievement? Setting up ClarkeWood's CSR strategy and helping to raise thousands for local causes over the last 12 months.
As Victoria said, she is a considerate person and this certainly shows in her charity efforts! She has arranged all of our charity events and is always thinking of new, fun and creative ways to make money for local causes. In her latest project, Victoria has used an existing bond with Dolphin Computer Access and a newly formed relationship with Sight Concern to encourage volunteers to help teach visually impaired people to use a computer.
Victoria also supports a charity in Guatemala called 'Education for the Children' (www.eftc.org.uk/) She is 'Godparent' to two children out there called Betty and Jorge who are both seven. She recently went out to visit them both in Guatemala!
What is your biggest personal achievement? Gaining my skippers and diving qualifications
When Victoria isn't hard at work or helping charities she enjoys diving and horse riding. (which is why she has been dubbed the 'posh' one at ClarkeWood!) Victoria also has a big interest in fine Red and White wine and food. Her favourite feasts are seafood - especially shellfish - as well as Cheese and preferred drinks are Tia Maria and Port. When eating out she enjoys the restaurants: Loves in Birmingham and The Jolly Frog in Leintwardine.
How would your colleagues describe you?
Well what can we say about the “Posh bird” in the office?
Victoria believes in the smart appearance, smart mind philosophy of working. She's a professional in dealing with people and treats everybody equal.
Victoria throws herself into everything she does with 100% vigour and as the Companies head of CSR, she is always leading from the front whether it is jumping out of aircraft or other various charity activities we do.
Victoria is a dedicated member of the team BUT she also does know how to party!
ClarkeWood currently have an exciting new project which is about to take off!
We have teamed up with local company ‘Dolphin Computer Access’ and charity ‘Sight Concern’ to sponsor a handful of volunteers’ through their ‘Train a Trainer’ course.
‘Train a Trainer’ is a one day course held at Dolphin’s head office in Blackpole, Worcester. The course will teach you how to use Dolphins pioneering software, GUIDE which helps visually impaired people to use a computer, and how to relay it on to other people.
You will then be expected to teach small groups of blind or visually impaired people how to use the GUIDE software.
We have had a great response to the project, but we could always do with more volunteers – the more people who go through the course, the more visually impaired people can receive help!
So, do you want to......?
Increase skills / build CV
Gain something attractive to an employer
Have the Feel good factor
Have the opportunity to learn for free
You can gain a qualification that is not widely available
Have an In demand qualification for the future
We are holding an evening on:
Bradbury Centre (Sight Concern)
Sansome Walk,
Worcester,
WR1 1LH
Tuesday 4thSeptember at 6.00pm - 7.00pm.
If you want more information, want to register your interest or to RSVP for the event please contact:
Here at ClarkeWood, we are very big on taking ownership of our CSR. The past few months have been really hectic with lots of different charity events! From inspiring talks to jumping out of an aeroplane, we really have done our bit for charities in need.
As a company we feel it is vitally important to support local charities making a tangible difference to our community. This year we have focused our efforts on two charities, St Richards Hospice and Sight Concern Worcestershire.
We'd like to share a few of our fund raising events, to show you how you can get involved. Plus the benefits that come with charity work.
January - June : St Richards Hospice
St Richards is a fantastic and worthy charity, which has a place in the hearts of local people. They offer care for ill people and support their families, offering them the best possible quality of life. Over the 6 months that we supported them, we attended multiple events such as; Ladies Day at the races, Cheltenham Gold Cup evening, we sponsored Part with a Pound day and also did a Skydive. ClarkeWood’s Victoria also spoke at a corporate event and over the 6 months raised over £9,000.
Part With a Pound Day
'Part with a Pound' day, held in March, offers the opportunity to dress up, dress down, dress wacky or simply donate a pound not to dress up! The day was a great chance to raise money for charity, while having fun and team building. Some of the ClarkeWood team got very comfortable in their new looks, as you can tell! The day raised Approx. £5000, which is a fantastic achievement!
Skydive
Recently, the team took to the skies at the Hinton Skydiving Centre in Oxfordshire and raised a fantastic £2,200! "We are all still reeling with excitement from the jump a few days after, it is truly an experience not to be missed and we all agree that it is most definitely the best thing you can do with your clothes on! The next challenge is to find something to top this!"
Other ways we got involved...
Victoria also recently spoke at an event arranged by St Richard’s, to local corporate supporters.She explained how we had got involved and how charity fundraising helps others while helping you. Getting involved with charity events seems like time and effort, but it is so worthwhile. It’s easy to get involved and it gets your company some column inches, getting your name out there locally. (As well as being great fun and improving team morale!!)
July - December : Sight Concern Worcestershire
After our incredible achievements with St Richards, we are now, supporting Sight Concern. Sight Concern helps around 2,500 people in the Worcestershire area who are blind or partially sighted across our county. A great cause which recently, got refused funding for a specialist children section - so they desperately need our help!
Although our support of Sight Concern has just begun, we’ve already taken part in some exciting events...
Jail N' Bail
The first event we took part in was 'Jail N Bail'. Several local business men were held in custody outside Worcester Guildhall, until they raised 'bail' of £500 each. Lee was detained for his crimes against consistently outrageous public displays of dad dancing. Lee managed to gain bail around 4pm after passing his target by £40!
Our support of Sight Concern has only just begun and we are sure there will be many more exciting opportunities to raise money for charity. We already have a few things in the pipeline, hopefully happening soon. Such as -
'Firewalk'
The Sight Concern 'Firewalk' is exactly what it sounds like - walking across fire! Our brave team will have their feet firmly on the ground after their skydiving challenge, yet they will be walking over burning hot coals!
Dolphin is a local pioneering company, based in Worcester, who offers computing solutions for blind or visually impaired people. They have developed a special system called GUIDE which allows visually impaired people to use a computer. What they do is fantastic, offering people the chance to be independent and have the experience that others take for granted.
We are currentlylooking to find IT job seekers, graduates and students who would be willing to give up their time and volunteer to teach and train visually impaired people how to utilise the GUIDE program.
We are raising the funds for 6 people to be put onto dolphins “train a trainer” courses where the individuals will learn how to use the software and learn how to train the users on it.
It will be an opportunity to get a free qualification and skill : making them more employable,
engaged with community and attractive to employers. It also means that sight concern can branch out around the Worcestershire area as part of their district development plan.
We will keep everyone updated on how these events progress.
Meanwhile, we hope you can see the benefits of taking control of your CSR.
Charity work is a fantastic thing to get involved in for many reasons:
For those that aren't familiar, Movember is the annual celebration of the moustache to raise awareness of male health issues and to raise funds for the first and second largest male health concerns testicular cancer and prostate cancer. Funds raised go to programmes run either directly by Movember, or their partners including The prostate Cancer charity, and the Institute of Cancer Research.
More than five men die every hour from potentially curable diseases, and according to recent research, around half of all male cancer cases could be prevented by making making healthier lifestyle choices. As such, the event aims raise awareness and encourage education surrounding men's health, to help break down stigmas and encourage men to take greater responsibility.
One in nine men will contract prostate cancer in their lives, and with the disease claiming 10,000 lives every year, the boys at ClarkeWood Consulting have stepped up to the plate to do our bit (albeit, with a couple of members of the team relying on "prosthetic 'tashes")
We’re pleased to have raised a total of £756 for the charity; to see the teams' hairy efforts and to donate, go to: http://mobro.co/ClarkeWoodConsulting
Hair RaisingMen's Health Facts
The average male life expectancy is four years less than women's
In 2008 37,051 new cases of prostate cancer were diagnosed and 10,168 men died
The rate of cancer diagnoses in men is considerably higher than the rate in women. In every 100,000 men there will be 417 cases diagnosed, compared to 366 cases per 100,000 females
Testicular cancer in the UK affects younger men between the ages of 20 and 50. 1,990 men were diagnosed with the disease in 2007
1 in 4 men in the UK will experience a mental health problem at some point in their lives
Here at ClarkeWood Consulting we take our Corporate Social Responsibility very seriously and on the 29th of July we played a large part in sponsoring a Network4Charity Black Tie evening that was held at the Worcester Warriors Rugby Club.
The evening was in support of Education for the Children and saw a true mix of business with pleasure for several of the local business owners who attended.
With an eclectic mix of guests, champagne reception, great food, plenty of wine and some exceptional live music that even tempted a few of our guests up to dance (you know who you are!) the night proved to be a success.
ClarkeWood Consulting were the main sponsors for the evening and along with their guest clients who attended; played a pivotal part in helping to raise the £2800 on the night itself.
Pictured here is Lee Clarke and Lynn Taylor as the two sponsors for the evening, with the founder of Education for the Children David McKee; Rhiannon, Carol and Christine who all work for the charity here in England and the two organisers for the night Cady Walker and our own recruiter Victoria Taylor.
(Lee holding onto his prized rugby ball bought in the auction which was kindly signed by the Warriors)
Despite popular belief not all recruiters are evil and sent here simply to harass you at the most in opportune moments of the day; the whole team here at ClarkeWood really believe in giving back to those less fortunate than ourselves as often as we can and thoroughly enjoyedbeing a part of supporting such a fantastic cause like Education for the Children.
Please take the time to watch this short video which was shown on the night as it really demonstrates the positive work that the charity have and are continuing to do.
For more information on the charity and the great work that they do please follow this link www.eftc.org.uk
