Paul Bundy, who is the Managing Director of West Midlands company Metafin, has already ran the Staffordshire half marathon in March and is now preparing to put on his running shoes for the Edinburgh marathon on 26th May and the BUPA Great Birmingham Run on 20th October.

Paul’s former colleague, Tony De Grey, was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukaemia (AML) in January 2012 and sadly lost his battle with the disease on Friday 5th April 2013.

By running a total of 52.4 miles, Paul hopes he can raise £2,500 for the Birmingham-based charity Cure Leukaemia, which supports blood cancer patients in the West Midlands.

Speaking of his challenge, Paul said:

“Finding out Tony had leukaemia was a terrible shock and his passing was even more heart-breaking. I always knew I wanted to do something to help and while three runs in one year is a big commitment, I’m up for the challenge. I hope that from doing this I can raise vital funds for Cure Leukaemia to help save more lives.”

James McLaughlin, CEO of Cure Leukaemia, said:

“We’re incredibly grateful to Paul for all his support this year and we’re looking forward to following his progress. Birmingham has been inspired by Tony’s story over the last 12 months and we hope that people will get behind Paul in his memory, as well as to help others like him who have been affected by the disease.”

Follow Paul’s progress on Twitter at @paul_bundy or donate to his JustGiving Page at www.justgiving.com/Paul-Bundy1

If you are interested in running the BUPA Great Birmingham Run for Team Cure Leukaemia visit www.cureleukaemia.co.uk or call 0121 236 9202.

The campaign, Cure Leukaemia for Kids, is one of Cure Leukaemia’s biggest initiatives in a year which will also see the charity celebrate its 10^th anniversary. Cure Leukaemia for Kids will support Birmingham Children’s Hospital by raising new funding for childhood leukaemia research and facilitate pioneering drug trials that could provide terminally ill children with access to potentially life-saving treatments.

By generating new funds to run more drug trials, Cure Leukaemia for Kids hopes to increase survival rates of children with leukaemia. The campaign has already secured the backing of Free Radio’s Walk for Kids, which takes place on Sunday 19 May 2013.

Cure Leukaemia founder, Professor Charlie Craddock said:

“Leukaemia is the most common form of cancer in children, and almost half of those diagnosed with the disease are under the age of five. Huge progress in treatment has been made over the past fifty years, and today more than 80% of children diagnosed with the commonest type of childhood leukaemia can be cured. By launching Cure Leukaemia for Kids, we’re joining the fight to save even more young lives by giving children access to ground-breaking drug trials that would otherwise have been unavailable to them.”

James McLaughlin, CEO of Cure Leukaemia, said:

“After a decade of supporting drugs trials and specialist nurses across the West Midlands, we feel very proud to be able to launch Cure Leukaemia for Kids during our tenth anniversary year. The £1million appeal will highlight the importance of giving children the access to new drugs that they desperately need. By offering greater support to children suffering with leukaemia, it is our hope that we can contribute to eradicating this disease.”

For more information visit www.cureleukaemia.co.uk or call 0121 236 9202

For more information on Free Radio’s Walk for Kids or to sign up visit walk.freeradio.co.uk

Charles Stanley sponsored the dinner which was also supported by many leading businesses in the region including DAC Beachcroft, Savills, Network Recruitment Partnership, Pertemps, and DBS Law.

The guests were royally entertained by special guests Phil Bennet and JPR Williams of Wales and the British Lions with their tales of previous Lions tours, thoughts on the current stock of players and the recent win by Wales over England in Cardiff.

The event organised by Jobson James’ Tim Venner, Business Development Director raised over £2500. Tim commented:

“Our annual Rugby dinner has become a signature event amongst Rugby supporters like myself and this year it was again a great success. We are very pleased to have raised money which will benefit the local community and underprivileged children in the Ladywood area, through our Jobson James Community Fund, administered by Birmingham and Black Country Community Foundation; we believe supporting our local community is a critical step in helping our region to Thrive.”

Speaking at the event was David Bucknall, Chairman of Birmingham and Black Country Community Foundation who commented:

“The night was extremely enjoyable and we would like to thank Jobson James for leading the way demonstrating how businesses can support local grassroots communities by working with BBCCF. We are the local charity that has the expertise to connect local people and businesses with causes that matter, supporting us enables our communities to thrive.”

Birmingham and Black Country Community Foundation (BBCCF) is part of the wider Community Foundation network. It is an independent charity that awarded £7m in small grants to over 1500 community and volunteer groups in the last 2 years across Birmingham and Black Country. Its unique approach to philanthropy aims to allow individuals and businesses to support their own specific local interests and causes and in doing so invest in the future of their community.

BBCCF provides philanthropy services to families, companies, trusts by managing funds, building endowment and being a link between local donors and local needs; investing back into our communities – where we live, work and play – aiming to enable charitable donations to bring about transformation.

The projects that BBCCF supports aim to provide a foundation to their communities reaching old and young alike including community centres, stroke victim support, sports clubs, theatre groups, recycling schemes, youth clubs, orchestras, exercise classes for the elderly and after school clubs to name but a few. They are proud to work with the local communities and help them make a difference.

Working 18.5 hours per week and earning an equivalent of £17k pro rata plus up to 5% matched pension contributions, as an Administration Officer in Birmingham City Centre for Birmingham LGBT you’ll be expected to carry out general administrative duties including reception coverage as necessary and organising events where appropriate. You’ll be expected to attend some meetings, events and conferences and of course require a mix of decent organisational and presentational skills.

This is a 24-month fixed-term contract job, on-going subject to funding. The closing date for applications is Wednesday 22nd May 2013 and shortlisted candidates will be interviewed on the following Monday (29th).

For an application pack, email recruitment@blgbt.org or download one from the Vacancies page of the Birmingham LGBT website.

As a major player in the local third sector, it’s no surprise to hear that they’re now planning a social enterprise fair in Walsall, to be held at The Vine Trust on the afternoon of Wednesday 29th May 2013, to last between the hours of 1pm and 2:30pm.

So if you’re a social enterprise based in or working in Walsall or nearby in the West Midlands primary urban area, or if you’re simply interested in what’s on offer from local social enterprises in the region, pop along to the fair – it will be dressed with various stands much like a marketplace so you can walk around and chat to people, picking up flyers and exchanging business cards, etc.

3C SEO believes that one of the most valuable aspects of its service to clients – both past and present – is that they are Birmingham residents and, as such, know Birmingham very well and develop resources to target Birmingham very efficiently. But more than this, 3C SEO knows the World Wide Web and knows that Birmingham’s charitable organisations have great potential to make a strong impact on the modern communications super-highway that is the internet.

3C SEO is also confident about its internet marketing strategies and is sure that victory abeckons for honest, local and good quality SEO campaigns that naturally fit right inline with ethics-driven charities.

As 3C SEO – the company – and its clients climb the rankings on Google, they hope to build on the success of good work to date with charities and community projects in Birmingham. As such, they are offering their first year-long, free charity SEO service for a Birmingham based project. This service will be completely free of charge and will involve:

• Advice and help in launching or developing/improving an SEO campaign
• On-going SEO consultancy and support
• A monthly meeting to brainstorm ideas for campaigning going forwards and recapping on results achieved so far
• A guarantee of greater exposure for the charity involved
• Improved 3 Cs on their website – Content, Code and Connection

The chosen charity that 3C SEO will work with needs to qualify by meeting the following criteria:

• They must be based in Birmingham
• They must be not-for-profit
• They, or a third party who nominates them, must be able to provide 3C SEO with a strong account of how increased exposure of their website will benefit the wider community

In order for a charity to qualify for this service they will need to be nominated by either themselves or a third party who can convince us of the value of the work they do. We will be accepting nominations between now and Wednesday 1st May. In order to nominate your charity, or the charity of your choice, you can send us 200 words stating what the charity does and how you feel it could benefit from greater exposure via web search engines such as Google, Yahoo and Bing.

3C SEO will decide which charity has won this exclusive service by the end of April. From there 3C SEO will meet with the successful charity to get a feel for the work they do and how 3C SEO can help the charity to raise its profile on the World Wide Web.

3C SEO believe this to be a unique chance for a local Birmingham charity to gain much greater exposure on Google and all this will be done for free.

In order to nominate your charity or the charity of someone you know please email geoff@3cseo.co.uk with your 200-word nomination or any questions & queries.

The funding will be used to deliver their upcoming social project ‘Theatre of the Disenfranchised’. The project seeks to provide women who experience social exclusion and isolation due to factors such as isolation, unemployment, mental health, language barriers, immigration and culture divides (amongst others) an opportunity to develop skills and increase self confidence. The project will consist of free drama based workshops which will provide wider positive choices to help the participants achieve their goals and reach their full potential as part of the wider community.

Blue Orange Arts Ltd is a multi-faceted arts organisation committed to promoting and facilitating the arts in the West Midlands and using arts and drama practice to engage and help educate the local community.

Holly Phillips from Blue Orange Arts said:

“We are thrilled to receive this grant from Comic Relief as it allows us to continue delivering our social projects, and make high quality theatre projects accessible to the local community.”

Blue Orange are now recruiting female participants currently living in Birmingham or the Black Country to take part in the project. For an application form or more details please contact Blue Orange Arts on 0121 212 2643 or email studio@blueorangetheatre.co.uk or stay tuned for updates on the new Blue Orange Theatre website: www.blueorangetheatre.co.uk.

The stationery, which includes files, folders, clips, pins, pens, pencils, string, tape, blutack and more, is variously in used and unused conditions. So if you’re desperate to kit out your classroom or charity’s office, give Bev a call on 0121 303 4456.

While collecting any of these free stationery items, you can make use of the car park on Great Charles Street at the back of the building.

Not only can volunteering be highly rewarding emotionally, but it can also be beneficial in material terms. Volunteering help you gain valuable experience of working in a professional environment and can help you to acquire various transferable skills – through direct experience alongside coaching from supervisors if not full, formal on-the-job training. Volunteering also goes some way towards helping you gain general life experience with the opportunity to meet and socialise with all kinds of people who you may not have otherwise met in your day-to-day life.

Volunteering does, however, offer its best rewards in less tangible forms. But the fact remains that volunteering for charity can give your CV the boost it needs to set you apart from other job applicants.

Volunteering for charity is evidence of a certain drive and passion – whether it is towards the cause that the charity works for or simply for doing the type of work that your volunteering position involved. Drive, passion and enthusiasm are personal qualities highly sought-after by most employers and recruiters, irrespective of the company, sector, industry, etc.

Taking the initiative to volunteer with a charity also shows that you have leadership skills because you have the inner spark necessary to go out and do something even without the common incentive of direct monetary reward, and if you have this spark of self-motivation then you probably also have what it takes to coach and motivate other people.

Volunteering also illustrates a certain amount of independence of thought and action, which is generally another valued personal trait that most employers appreciate. After all, nothing speaks more about your independence, initiative and passion like teaching in a school in a remote village on the other side of the world while volunteering for a charity. And if it’s a local Birmingham charity you’re supporting that shows teamwork, commitment and reliability. It’s a win win scenario!

Experience of volunteering can help you gain various invaluable skills and brings extensive valuable experience your way, even if you’re not the adventurous type. Volunteering for a charity, whether at home or abroad, be it indoors or outdoors, for human rights or animal welfare or any other charitable cause, shows a certain mentality that employers highly desire and helps you to gain practical transferrable skills for the workplace too.

One skill you stand to gain through volunteering is teamworking. Volunteering can improve your ability to work within a team and as part of a group with a common aim or common cause as the group’s mission or objective. In fact, the feeling of solidarity and team spirit is especially strong within charity organisations, and this important quality is very well honed and improved during a typical volunteering work placement.

Working with a charity can also be a great confidence booster. It can give you a sense of belonging from which you can improve your general confidence, energy levels and communication skills – all traits which happen to be highly valued qualities for nearly all job roles available in the UK today. Indeed, volunteering is a great way to get your foot in the door, to the professional world and possibly to the industry that you most wish to work in. Even if you’re a mature volunteer with decades of work experience behind you, volunteering can help you bridge the gap between the kind of paid work you do today and the kind you’d like to start doing, provided of course that your volunteering job is within the industry that you seek to migrate into.

Indeed, by volunteering – devoting your time and skills to a cause you believe in – all the while picking up important skills – you can structure your experience-building activity in such a way that you volunteer within the locale or industrial sector that you’re most interested in working with professionally and this can be especially useful for your future career trajectory.

These are just some qualities and skills obtainable via volunteering for the charity of your choice. Depending on the type of work you choose to do and where you work, etc, you may learn various other skills not mentioned here, and you may really enjoy your volunteering experience. Still, the fact remains that in the highly competitive global workforce market that we live with and often try to work in today, it is these additional skills and experiences that make you stand out from the crowd, to get that job you want and improve your career prospects for a more fruitful lifestyle.

About the author: Richard has been contributing to Charityzine since March 2013. As the founder of How2become, one of the UK’s leading training and recruitment websites for public sector careers, Richard’s current career mission is to provide job applicants with the knowledge they need to prepare for and pass selection processes for careers in the police, fire service, ambulance service and other major public sector bodies as well as charities and third sector organisations. The website currently offers over 150 publication titles. You can also find How2become on Facebook.

This event rounds off Birmingham’s Islam Awareness Week campaign – a national, annual series of events promoted by the Islamic Society of Britain.

About Islam

Islam is a religion evermore widespread in the UK and around the world today. It’s a faith often in the public eye, in receipt of negative publicity. It’s the victim of endless targeted propaganda and ignorant stereotyping. The average British citizen is full of misconceptions about this religion. Even many self-described Muslims are unaware of core principles in this religion – a deep religion full of wisdom that few people manage to unlock in their lifetime.

Concepts and misconceptions

One common misconception takes place when we hear Muslims saying that their god is “the god” or that their religion is “the religion”. Unless they’re also misinterpreting it themselves (and to be fair, they sometimes are) the true meaning of language like “the god” and “the religion” is not to say “we choose to ignore and neglected all others” but rather to say “we believe that our way recognises and accommodates everyone in every place, and offers a route of progression right through from the most hellish of situations to normal life on earth to heavenly paradise and to resting in peace”. Indeed, while traditionally there are inequalities in every society, perpetuated by narrow-minded individuals, the key rolemodels within Islamic culture (going back many thousands of years) are said to be some of the most all-welcoming and trusted people to have walked the Earth. The Islamic prophet Mohammed is said to have safeguarded his enemies’ possessions – they trusted him that much – they banked on his honesty even while waging war against him.

What about veils? What’s the point in a veil? Well, first off, there are many British Muslims who don’t wear a veil, indeed, many self-described British Muslims look just like common westerners. But what about those who do wear them? Well, a common misconception is that it’s just a way in which men oppress women – dehumanising them, taking their power away, etc, etc. And while traditionally many an unwise Muslim has behaved like this with the thought that it’s merely a convenient attribute of his family’s accepted religion, there is in fact some perfectly sound logic behind why a woman may choose to wear a veil. It’s based on the same logic as to why supermarkets put their luxury products on prominent display, under the spotlight, to tease you into behaving irrationally and potentially purchasing something that’s not cheap or healthy. The idea is, if you see something that you want, it will rattle you – it will disturb you – you’ll be teased to do something about it. In this way, when a normal hormone-driven man sees an attractive woman showing off her body, he is also disturbed and is more likely to behave irrationally than if he never saw her on display. Even a woman’s face can have this effect if she’s got luscious lips for example. (Who hasn’t heard men talking about Angelina Jolie’s lips?) When a woman shows off her body, perhaps just a pretty face, perhaps legs, clevage or more, this may cause as small a problem as tripping up or falling over, or it may lead to more serious forms of sexually-inspired misbehaviour such as harassment or rape. In such cases of men falling head-over-heels at the sight of women, it’s not directly the woman’s fault, but she could have done something to help prevent it, and it is directly the man’s fault, but he was teased out of his right mind. This is why women are encouraged to cover their bodies within traditional Islamic culture, but if you believe it’s against women’s rights, you’re welcome to believe that. Within true Islam, nothing is forced – you’re welcome to believe what you like – you’re simply warned by ancient prophecy about the likely consequences of your deeds and you’re advised to behave in the best way accordingly.

For more Islamic issues discussed and potentially debunked, revolving around the topic of Islam in a secular society, come along to the event at Birmingham Uni’s Edgbaston campus this Saturday evening.

Event line-up

Issues up for discussion this Saturday include:

“Hijab” vs Women’s Rights - should women be oppressed – forced to hide at home and cover their face, or should they simply be politely encouraged to behave most modestly?

“The Straight Path” vs Gay Rights – is homosexuality outcast or simply discouraged from escalating unnaturally?

Freedom of Choice - Should people force each other to obey God or simply have faith that God will take care of everything?

“Jihad” vs Terrorism – Jihad is the Islamic principle of holy war – purely defensive and minimally violent, but often twisted to be construed as terrorism by media moguls who are in fact intellectual terrorists themselves. But not everyone knows this, and of course it affects a lot of people – it brings misery into many Muslim households in the UK – so the issue is up for discussion this Saturday night.

Where and when

To attend this event, come down to Cadbury Room, St Francis Hall, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston Park Road, Birmingham, B15 2TT at 6:30pm on Saturday 16th March 2013.

St. Francis Hall is located just after the University’s East Gate, towards the Bristol Road end of Edgbaston Park Road.

For further information on the venue, you may find this link from Birmingham Uni’s website useful: https://intranet.birmingham.ac.uk/as/studentservices/chaplaincy/about/sfh.aspx

All are kindly requested to spread the word and share this event with friends, colleagues, teachers – anyone who might be interested. This event’s organisers have said, the more diverse a crowd they can attract, the better.

For more information please visit the official Facebook page for this event here:
http://www.facebook.com/events/431907883554047/