Birmingham Future partners up with BVSC

After a successful launch event in April, the ‘Become Richer, Work for Nothing’ campaign – a partnership between BVSC (The Centre for Voluntary Action), Thrive (Birmingham’s CSR network) and Birmingham Future – is now offering professionals in the city the opportunity to find out more about what it takes to volunteer and how it can benefit your career.

A small group of Birmingham Future members were invited to attend a free evening course in early June which covered the roles and responsibilities of becoming a trustee and how to get involved with charities at board level.  The group was given an overview of the differences between strategic and business planning and directional and operational management as well as the changing nature of the third sector.

Tracey O’Brien, director of policy and programmes at BVSC, said:

“We’re looking for young professionals who want to get involved and make a valuable contribution to charities in Birmingham.  The voluntary and community sector is about to go into recession.  There is a huge opportunity for young professionals – skilled and knowledgeable people – to come on board and support these fantastic organisations in the next few years.”

To find out more about future events and the opportunities to volunteer through BVSC, Birmingham St Mary’s Hospice, Career Academies UK, and so on, please visit the Birmingham Future website community development pages – www.birminghamfuture.co.uk community or contact Claire-Elaine Arthurs at CEArthurs@hbj-gw.com.

Birmingham’s young professionals dig deep

It took just three hours for 200 of Birmingham’s young professionals to dig deep at the Ball and raise over £900 for the Birmingham Future Foundation. This charity supports employment, education and training community projects in Birmingham.

Hosted at the Botanical Gardens in Edgbaston, the Birmingham Future Annual Ball took on a distinctly Bollywood feel for 2010. After a spicy curry, guests were encouraged to participate in the “black and white card game” and were then offered a second chance to win with a raffle.

Birmingham Future Chair Amanda Porter, a senior solicitor at Mills & Reeve LLP, was joined on stage by Heart FM DJ Ed James and Ball sponsor and specialist city lettings agent Nicola Fleet-Milne, of FleetMilne Residential, to pick the winners.

Prizes were kindly donated by BHMG Marketing, the Ticket Factory and LG Arena, Birmingham Contemporary Music Group, Brewin Dolphin and the International Dance Festival Birmingham, the Amala Spa at the Hyatt and the Electric Cinema.

The lucky winners on the night were Michael Burgess of Barclays Wealth, Claire Greenwood at Birmingham Development Company, Emma Druckman of PricewaterhouseCoopers, Mike Needham at Jones Lang Lasalle and Russell Porter of 3PB.

Star prize winner Michael Burgess, Barclays Wealth, said: “It was quite a remarkable night on Friday. Unfortunately I did not win the lottery on Saturday!”

Panel Discussion – Leadership in the City, Thursday 11th March

Members of Birmingham Future and Forward gathered at Bevan Britten for the first panel discussion event of 2010 – the subject – Leadership in the city.

Chair Anthony McCourt (Birmingham Development Company) was joined by panellists Nick Venning (PwC), Karen Yeomans (AWM) and John Hemming (Lib Dem MP for Yardley).

Asked whether the coalition council had worked John Hemming argued that it had, although conceded that there had been issues – not least the £200million back pay agreement that their predecessors had failed to resolve. Does the current structure of Birmingham City Council deliver? – not according to the members of the audience. Karen Yeomans talked about the Joint Strategy Investment Board which brings together local authority and business and hopes to unblock delivery of new initiatives. But the question remained, are there just too many boards/councils/committees and is the whole process too complicated?

Karen Yeomans said that the biggest challenge currently facing the region was the 40% worklessness rate, well above the national average and argued that only if the public and private sectors some together can the decline be reversed. Nick Venning argued that the division between the sparkling city centre and the disassociated surrounding areas was Birmingham’s most serious issue.

Elected mayors divided opinion. Nick Venning asked whether an elected mayor be a political figure or just somebody who beats the drum for Birmingham. Probably both. John Hemming was against. The floor was 50/50.

Other key issues discussed were the loss of manufacturing, the decline of Cadburys, the class of 09 who have graduated and left because there are no jobs, and, of course, High Speed 2. Earlier that day the government announced investment of £17billion for a new high speed rail link bringing the journey time between Birmingham and London down to 49 minutes. The room agreed that this could only be a positive thing for the region but the enthusiasm was tinged with concern that we might not see it happen.

The evening was rounded off with a show of hands on the key issues. On support for Birmingham Library there was an overwhelming majority, opinion towards the future of AWM was split 50/50. When asked who thought leadership in the city was strong one or two people tentatively raised their hands.

The resounding opinion on the leadership of Birmingham as a city we need much clearer direction and a much stronger voice. Whether that comes in the form of an elected mayor or otherwise remains to be seen.

Kirsty Mack
Chair, Debate Sub-Committee

Head of Stakeholder Relations
University of Birmingham

Exciting fundraising opportunity

If you would like to join a team of passionate, hard-working and dynamic individuals who co-ordinate fundraising on behalf of the Birmingham Future Foundation and signpost community engagement and volunteering opportunities within the city then you might be in luck…

Birmingham Future’s community development committee is now recruiting for two new members to join the successful team which is chaired by solicitor Claire-Elaine Arthurs of HBJ Gateley Wareing.

Claire-Elaine is joined by 2009 BYPY winner Suzie Branch, BHMG Marketing; as well as Aimee Postle, Kinetic PR; Paul Fielding, Brewin Dolphin; Chloe Edwards, Bevan Brittan; Charlotte Torlo, THSH; and Danielle Oscadiw-Brown, BHMG Marketing.

To find out more about the committee and how you can become involved, please get in touch with Claire-Elaine at CArthurs@hbj-gw.com.

Young professionals get that loving feeling with Birmingham St Mary’s Hospice

The winning team members were (L-R): Sonya Bell – Headline Communications, Jason Norris – Deloitte, Rebecca Mawdsley – Team Captain/Enl, Amanda Porter – Birmingham Future Chair/Mills & Reeve, Martin Noble –, Shakespeare Putsman , Amy Cox – Birmingham City University , Ben Evans – FleetMilne

More than 30 young professionals and students got in touch with their creative side as they took on the challenge set by Birmingham St Mary’s Hospice to dress their shop windows with a Valentine’s Day theme.

The budding retail designers came from professional services membership organisation Birmingham Future and each team was assisted by a student from Birmingham City University’s Theatre, Performance and Event Design course.

With sponsorship from specialist city centre letting agent FleetMilne Residential each team was challenged with creating shop window masterpieces which would entice shoppers into the charity shops run by the Hospice in and around Birmingham.

Caroline Taylor, head of fundraising and marketing at St Mary’s Hospice, said: “Our shops around the city raise a significant amount of funding for the Hospice and we are very grateful to the public for the support they provide. However, our resources for window dressing are heavily reliant on the type of donations we receive and the time of volunteers.”

The teams were given just three hours to pull together their masterpieces and the judging was carried out by a panel which included Kevin Breese, general manager of Harvey Nichols; Natalie Strachen, marketing and retail director, Birmingham Development Company; and Pam Stanley, Birmingham St Mary’s Hospice retail manager.

A team made up of members from Birmingham Future’s Birmingham Young Professional of the Year (BYPY) and Talent Retention and Development (TRaD) committees, assisted by student Amy Cox from Birmingham City University, won the challenge with their efforts at the Selly Oak shop.

David Pardoe, retail manager at the Mailbox, commented: “There was some really good work here and we were impressed with the overall standard, in particular the strategy committee’s visual impact was very strong and also a special mention for the marketing committee’s “Love Vintage” which was well executed.”

Claire Elaine Arthurs, solicitor at HBJ Gateley-Wareing and chair of Birmingham Future’s community development committee, which organised the event, said: “There is a definite passion and drive to do more for the community among young professionals in Birmingham. This competition allowed Birmingham Future’s committee members a fantastic opportunity to team up with the next generation of graduates and make a difference for Birmingham St Mary’s Hospice shops.”

Birmingham St Mary’s Hospice cares for over 1,000 people each year suffering from life-limiting illnesses such as cancer, motor neurone disease and multiple sclerosis. The aim is to give people the best quality of life for whatever time remains to them, supporting them and their families, for as long as needed. For more information, please visit www.bsmh.org.uk.

The efforts of all the Birmingham Future teams were on show at the Birmingham St Mary’s Hospice shops in Selly Oak, Cotteridge, Weoley Castle, King’s Heath, King’s Norton, West Heath and Birmingham St Mary’s Hospice Furniture Shop in Cotteridge.