Forthcoming event – A Summer Evening with Trees and Pimms

A Summer Evening with Trees and Pimms – Tuesday 14th July 2009, 6.30pm – The Loudon Suite, Birmingham Botanical Gardens

Birmingham Trees for Life is delighted to invite members of Birmingham Future to ‘A Summer Evening with Trees and Pimms’. This social and networking event will highlight the importance of our urban trees, and introduce Birmingham Trees for Life to local businesses who may wish to play a part in improving the environment in which their staff and customers live and work, by helping to plant trees in the city’s parks and open spaces. The evening will include a guided tour of the Botanical Gardens by a resident tree expert.

Tickets are limited and available on a first come, first served basis. The cost is £25 per person, which includes sponsorship of a sapling tree. Alternatively, tickets for the event only, with no tree sponsorship, can be purchased for £10 per person. Tickets are available by emailing bhamtreesforlife@gmail.com for a booking form.

The completed booking form should be returned to: Birmingham Trees for Life,

9 Margaret Street, Birmingham, B3 3BS, with a cheque for the appropriate amount, made payable to The Birmingham Civic Society.

When emailing for a booking form, please could you indicate the number of tickets you require at £25 or £10, your name, company name and the fact that you are a member of Birmingham Future. Once your cheque and booking form have been received, a confirmation of your booking will be emailed to you.

Meet & Mix Lunch – Monday 8th June 2009

Meet & Mix Lunch – Monday 8th June 2009, 12:00hrs for 12:30hrs to approx 14:00hrs – Asha’s Restaurant, 12-22 Newhall St Birmingham, B3 3LX

To launch Birmingham Future’s ‘Adopted School Project’ we are pleased to announce that Assad Hamed, chair of governors for Moseley School, will be the guest speaker at our next Meet & Mix lunch. The Adopted School Project is a long term project through which Birmingham Future aims to facilitate the school in encouraging ambition, inspiring and supporting pupils to pursue careers within one of Birmingham’s many professional service sectors. This exciting project run by Birmingham Future’s Diversity Committee, will give Future members the opportunity to help Birmingham’s children follow in our footsteps and become Birmingham’s future.

Assad has kindly agreed to talk to our members about the challenges the school faces, his thoughts on social inclusion, and how you can get involved in the project. Assad is also a Manager of the Homes and Communities Agency (which includes the former English Partnership). This government created agency provides the opportunity for people to live in high quality, sustainable places, promoting regeneration and social inclusion. If you would like to attend please contact the Birmingham Future office.

Forthcoming event – Open Forum Debate – Thursday 28th May 2009

Is Birmingham able to weather the current economic storm?

Thursday 28th May 2009, 18:00hrs for 18:30hrs to approx 20:00hrs, At Bevan Brittan, Interchange Place, Edmund Street, Birmingham, B3 2TA

Birmingham Future is proud to announce its first open forum debate of 2009 – giving you the chance to make sure your voice is heard on the most pressing issues of the day. Birmingham Future’s debates team has therefore gathered together great minds from the city’s political, business and education sectors to debate the motion:

“Are Birmingham’s young professionals right to be confident about the city’s ability to weather the current financial storm?”

As everyone is well aware, the recession has hit business hard, with recent media reports suggesting our city has suffered more than most, especially in the automotive and construction industries. But are we right to focus on the doom and gloom?

With guest speakers set to include Gisela Stuart, Labour MP for Edgbaston, Mike Whitby, leader of Birmingham City Council, Alun Thorne, head of business at the Birmingham Post, and Professor David Bailey, of Birmingham Business School, it promises to be a lively debate so make sure you book your seat, via the office in the normal way, to ensure that your voice is heard!

Successful Development: “How to Fast Track Your Career”

At times like these (the general malaise surrounding the economy and worlds of work – the one that the media won’t shut up about), it is always useful to get a fresh perspective. Are you doing well? What could you be doing better?Royston Guest, of pti Worldwide, recently ran a workshop on how to fast track your career for Birmingham Future at the MWB offices. Perhaps, what it should have been titled was “Be a deaf frog and get over yourself!”                         Animated and interactive, Royston told us all how to stop listening to the negative commentary that surrounds us, develop a winning mindset, know our outcomes before we start, and become the person that people aspire to be.

Case studies and inspiring quotes from people like Lewis Hamilton, Andy Murray and Richard Branson as well as businesses like Shell, Next and Starbucks illustrated Royston’s talk nicely.

Final thought: Live life as if all your dreams have come true and challenge reality to catch up! Aimee Postle, Account Executive at Jewellery Quarter PR consultancy Kinetic Communications

Birmingham Future’s Pub Quiz reviewed…

Birmingham Future’s annual quiz was held at Après this year. In usual form, Après provided a great atmosphere with attendees testing their own knowledge whilst enjoying fresh pizzas that were served to their tables.

With six rounds, plus a picture round, the participants were really put to the test. Questions such as “what is a synchronous diaphragmatic flutter” and “what are the only two positions in Netball from which a player is allowed to score” had the teams deep in conversation over the likely answers. Competition was tough but in the end Team 6, which included Emily Morris (Willis), Ben Evans (Fleet Milne), Anna Heath (Mills & Reeve), Christopher Voisey (Baker Tilly), Claire Tipler (Hammonds LLP) and Nicholas Covill (Wragge & Co) pushed through and won by a single point. Each member of the team took away a prize, which included pairs of tickets kindly donated by CBSO, BCMG and THSH, and a £70 San Carlo voucher. The runners up each took away a bottle of wine kindly donated by Seal Communications.