Unless been hiding under a rock or have an aversion to the sight of big yellow bears, you’ll know it’s time once again for BBC’s annual Children in Need fundraiser. And with stars from Gary Barlow to JLS and the cast of Eastenders getting ready to kick off tonight’s TV marathon (BBC 1, from 7pm), it’s set to be the biggest and most successful campaign yet.
We thought we’d get in on the action and sprinkle a little sporting stardust of our own – with a little bit of help from Manchester United goal scoring legends Andy Cole and Dwight Yorke. Kicking off this evening, they’ll be teaming up with DHL employees to raise money for the Children in Need appeal.
DHL, Official Logistics Partner of Manchester United, is handing its main call centre at East Midlands Airport over to the BBC fundraiser for the evening. We’ll have over 200 employees – along with the Manchester United legends – on hand to take calls, raise money and help make a difference to the lives of children everywhere.
Andy Cole said: “It’s a pleasure to help raise money for a great cause like Children in Need. It has extra significance for me because I grew up not far from here in Nottingham. I hope we can do our bit to improve the lives of kids in this area and across the country.”
The DHL Customer Services call centre deals with around 3 million calls a year, making it one of the largest and most experienced centres to be involved in the appeal. This will be the third year running DHL have been involved, having raised £6500 in 2010.
]]>
As regular readers of this blog will know, DHL employees can be a creative bunch. As well as making sure your parcels get to their destinations in recordbreaking time, we’ve also got a bit of an eye for a masterpiece. Recently, we’ve been putting our creative skills to good use – by helping Stanton Vale School in Derbyshire create a special memory garden for pupils with severe learning difficulties.
Based on designs drawn up by the pupils themselves, DHL employees lent a hand with planting, painting and constructing the new garden. The aim was to create a space for pupils to play and learn, as well as remembering friends who’ve left.
Alan Wylie, Deputy Head Teacher at Stanton Vale said: “The garden has been completely transformed and the pupils adore the new features. The streams of butterflies, rows of flowers and a statuesque totem pole each provide the pupils with an exciting new way to interact and develop their sensory skills; while the pathways and benches offer an opportunity for tranquillity. We are eternally grateful to DHL for sponsoring this worthwhile project and for investing so much time to make sure everything was perfect for our pupils.”
DHL enlisted the help of one of its contractors to carry out some of the initial work, with nine members of the senior management team from the Aviation hub at East Midlands airport also investing a day’s worth of time in the garden.
Colin Beynon, Head of HR at DHL Aviation UK Ltd said: “This has been a great project to be involved in. It’s nice to have the chance to step away from the office and use our expertise and resources to make a real difference in the local community. We’re really pleased with the results and we hope the pupils at Stanton Vale enjoy their new garden.”
For more information on DHL Servicepoint visit:www.dhlservicepoint.co.uk
]]>
Rainbow Trust is a charity that makes a real difference to families who have a child with a life-threatening or terminal illness. We’re encouraging everyone from DHL staff to DHL customers to get involved…
The prospect of your son or daughter being diagnosed with a life-threatening illness is too horrifying to imagine. Sadly, it’s a heartbreaking reality faced by thousands of families in the UK every year. Coping with the emotional turmoil of childhood terminal illness is amongst the hardest things a family will ever have to do and it’s regrettable that until recently so little support has been available to those facing such traumatic uncertainty.
Rainbow Trust Children’s Charity can make a difference. It offers emotional and practical support to families going through the hardest of times. Rainbow Trust workers join the families in their homes, offering support and understanding to distraught siblings, taking some of the practical burden off exhausted parents and helping them find the strength to cope. Relying almost entirely on voluntary donations, it’s an undeniably good cause, helping around 1,000 families deal every year.
That’s why we’re on a mission to encourage everybody, from DHL staff to DHL customers, to do what they can to support this incredible charity. There are lots of ways to help out, from regular giving to special occasion contributions. You can also get involved by taking part in fundraising events or even organising your own fun event.
At DHL, we’re setting out to raise a whopping £75,000 for the Rainbow Trust in 2011 through our Life Cycle fundraising scheme. Life Cycle is a campaign that we’ve been running since 2009, encouraging all our staff, across various branches of DHL, to get involved in a host of exciting fundraising events.
This year, intrepid DHL staff across the country will be: dusting off their running shoes and taking to the roads in the BUPA Great North Run, going beyond the call of duty in our Life Sky Dive, cycling from London to Paris, and swimming their way to success in the Great North Swim. Life Cycle on Tour will take a mini-sports centre, housed in the 40ft Life Cycle trailer, to DHL sites across the UK – making it even easier for staff to get involved with local sponsorship.
If you’re feeling inspired and want to help Rainbow Trust make a difference, head over to their website for ideas on how to get involved.
If you’re going to climb Everest, they say preparation is key. A once-in-a-lifetime challenge, you’ll encounter endless life-threatening dangers that will push you to your physical and mental limits. The sooner you start training, the better.
Becky Bellworthy, from Romsey in Hampshire, certainly took this advice to heart: an aspiring adventurer, she began her training at the age of three.
“I was climbing trees all the time. It scared the living daylights out of my parents,” says Becky, now aged 19.
Sixteen years later, with several Duke of Edinburgh awards and months of grueling preparation in the bag, Becky’s lifelong dream of being the youngest British female to climb Everest is about to become a reality.
“It was around the beginning of 2010 that I finally decided it was time to do it. Everyone thought I was crazy, but I went ahead anyway. I quietly started a really intense training regime and climbed Mont Blanc. It got me completely hooked,” recalls Becky.
Now, after two years of thorough preparation, Becky is about to embark on her DHL-sponsored Everest Expedition challenge. In doing so, she’ll be battling jet stream winds, extreme temperatures and life-threatening altitudes.
But at the forefront of Becky’s mind isn’t just the personal challenge that lies ahead. Driving her forward is a desire to help raise money for Depression Alliance, the UK’s leading charity for people with depression.
“Climbing Everest is a battle I’ve chosen to enter into, but for 1 in 5 people in the UK who suffer from a mental illness at some point in their life there’s no choice involved. Depression Alliance helps people with depression, promoting services that truly make a difference. I’m passionate about supporting them,” Becky explains.
A very worthy cause, we’re sure you’ll agree, so please do all you can to help raise funds and awareness by making a donation. After all, if climbing Everest at the age of 19 isn’t impressive enough to warrant a couple of quid, what is?
Find out more by visiting Becky’s website: www.beckybellworthy.com
To get the latest on Becky’s progress, follow her on Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/beckybellworthy
To discover more about the invaluable work Depression Alliance do, visit their website:http://www.depressionalliance.org/
To make a donation, click here
]]>