Fundraising success for College

The College has raised over £1,000 for the Acorns Children's Hospice, after a fundraising drive over the Christmas period.

Staff were invited to forgo sending Christmas cards to one another and give a donation to the charity instead, while tickets for a raffle were sold at the staff Christmas party.

In return for a £2 donation, staff were given tickets for the raffle, featuring prizes donated by some of the College's suppliers, after they were contacted by chef lecturer Leighton Anderson.

Staff had the chance to win prizes including dinner for two at Simpson's restaurant, Sunday lunch for two at the Royal Oak, his and hers beauty products and a one-hour professional golf lesson.

The Christmas card scheme raised £531.50, while the raffle made £520.05 for the charity, which cares for life-limited children and their families across the West Midlands region.

Staff at the College have supported the charity for several years, and in the past have raised funds through the Christmas cards and donations from the former Staff Association.

Lecturer Jean Warner, who has been involved in the fundraising for several years, said: "When this was first set up, we had a meeting and the staff all agreed it would be good to support these local children.

"This time we raised even more than in previous years – we had an excellent response from staff with the cards, and then we raised even more from the raffle."

Acorns employee fundraising and payroll giving manager Andy Jarrett wrote to the College to thank everyone for their support.

He said: "This is a wonderful gesture – please pass on our thanks to everyone who contributed to such a fantastic gift for our vital work.

"As I am sure you know from the media, all children's hospices are soon to receive funding from central government. Although this is good news for us, this extra funding will still leave us with the task of having to raise enough to cover 80% of our cost of care provision which is more than £4million each year.

"The fantastic ongoing support from the team at  UCB is vital to our ability to continue to assist the life-limited children and young people, who with their families, rely on us in facing the immense challenges in their lives."

For more information on the Acorns Children's Hospice visit www.acorns.org.uk.