Police at Birmingham Airport are urging travellers to Pakistan to protect any charity cash they may be taking with them. Travellers should take documentation to show where the money has come from due to unscrupulous criminals who could use the Pakistan floods tragedy as a cover for smuggling out money raised through illegal activity. People should also be aware of the dangers of carrying large sums of money. For more information see the press release.

Want to raise some unrestricted funds for your organisation?

Date: Saturday 11th September
Venue: Babbs Mill Park, Kingshurst to Knowle Primary School
Start time: 10am – official opening by the Mayor of Solihull

A fun day out that brings Solihull together in aid of local causes.

Taking part costs just £5 per person (£2.50 for under 16s accompanied by an adult).

Registration deadline: Friday 27th August 2010

Solihull-based charity, voluntary or community group?

Field a team of walkers and all sponsor money they raise will go to direct to your charity or voluntary group.

• Walk Registration Form Group 2010
• Group Terms and Conditions

Want to raise money for local projects?

Individuals can walk on behalf of Solihull Together – a small grants fund made available to charities and voluntary organisations that help the people of Solihull.

• Walk Registration Form Individual / Solihull Together
• Walk Terms and Conditions Individual 

The route

The full 12 mile walk will take in the entire borough from Babbs Mill Park to Knowle. Alternatively, you can walk shorter routes of 2.5, 3.5 or 6 miles, with stopping points at Grace Academy (Chelmsley Wood) and Elmdon Park.

For those of you who took part last year – we hope to have a couple more twists and turns in the Elmdon to Knowle stretch.

Registration

Registration fees cover the cost of staging the event. Any surplus will go into the Solihull Together Fund.

Questions?

If you have any questions or comments please contact Claire Milican on 0121 711 3148 or email her at clairem@solihull-sustain.org.uk

Download: Solihull Together sponsored walk flyer

Last year’s great day out

Take a look at our video to see what a fantastic time people had at last year’s first ever Solihull Together sponsored walk.

Solihull Together is organised by SUSTAiN, working in partnership with SCF – Solihull Together. Registered charity number 1063014.

We are all hearing about the “Big Society” and “Civil Society” but what does it mean and how does it affect us all?

Come to this event and hear first hand from two key note speakers what effect they predict the change in government and public spending will have on the Voluntary and Community Sector.

Date: Monday 4th October
Time: 17.30 to 20.30
Venue: Ramada Hotel, New Road, Solihull B91 3RF

To book your free place, register online or download a booking form and send to: Events, SUSTAiN, The Priory, Church Hill Road, Solihull B91 3LF

Programme

Terms and Conditions: Please note that, whilst the event is free, if you book a place and cancel within 10 days of the event, or fail to attend/send a suitable substitute, your organisation will be charged a cancellation fee of £25.

126 people turned out in support of the first ever Solihull Together Magic Charity Ball, held at Solihull Ramada on Friday 16^th July. The event raised nearly six thousand pounds for local charities and voluntary groups that provide essential support to the people of Solihull.

Guests enjoyed a champagne reception and a delicious 3 course dinner in the Courtyard Suite, followed by a stunning performance from Solihull-based close-up magician Ben Hanlin. Everyone was amazed by his superb showmanship and just could not fathom how during one trick he appeared to swallow nails and then pull them out of his mouth again one by one!

Thanks to the many tremendous prizes donated by local businesses, both the auction and raffle excited much interest, raising £1400. The star raffle prize was a Samsung Flat Screen TV which was donated by Gemma Smith of Blue Dog Electric Company. Auction prizes included a signed Birmingham City Football Shirt and a wheelbarrow filled with wine.

Local resident Sheila Stansbie commented: “I thought it was an excellent evening. Well organised, good food and great entertainment”.

The evening was generously hosted by Ramada, led by general manager Andy Cole, as part of their on-going contribution to the Solihull Together campaign.

Solihull Together is a charity set up in 2009 to support local charities and voluntary groups in the borough, badly hit by the recession. Last year’s fundraising events, including the Solihull Together Walk, saw £10k raised – a target it aims to double during 2010.

To be added to the mailing list for notification of next year’s charity ball, or make contributions to Solihull Together please contact SUSTAiN on 0121 711 3148.

Ramada Solihull Manager wins national ‘community hero’ award

Andy Cole, General Manager at Solihull’s Ramada hotel has been named a ‘community hero’ at a national awards ceremony recognising eight business people who have gone the extra mile in supporting their local community.

The Development Trusts Association ‘private sector community hero’ award was given to Andy for the outstanding contribution his hotel has made to the Solihull Together campaign, which fundraises on behalf of Solihull-based charities and voluntary groups.

Andy and his team at the Ramada have been putting on monthly quiz nights and homemade cake sales, with proceeds going to the campaign. They also ran a ‘watering station’ for over 180 hot and tired walkers at the first ever Solihull Together sponsored walk last October.

And this year, the hotel is making a big gesture – generously supporting Solihull Together’s magic charity ball later this month.

Upon receiving the award, Andy said: “really I’m just very proud for my team because every one of the hotel’s staff has put the effort in, I’m just lucky enough to be the individual picked out to be rewarded.”

Andy was nominated for the award by SUSTAiN/Colebridge Trust, the organisation behind Solihull Together. Having built up a strong partnership with the hotel, both sides have seen the relationship bear fruit.

“I’m very lucky that as a hotel I’ve got quite a lot to offer to the local community,” said Andy. “And what’s in it for me is much better staff morale, a real feeling of teamwork from the hotel staff when they’re helping with all the events, and a bit of fun – something that adds real interest to the day job.”

While Chief Executive of SUSTAiN/Colebridge Trust, Dave Pinwell, had this to say: “Andy and his team have really captured the spirit of the Solihull Together campaign – which is all about the different parts of our community pulling together to make a difference in people’s lives. They have helped in so many ways, especially in their idea to host a ball which has really added a new dimension to this year’s campaign and has helped to jump-start our fundraising efforts. Their contribution is an outstanding example of what can be achieved when business and the community work together.”

The Vetting and Barring scheme, under which staff and volunteers working with children and vulnerable adults would have to register to be checked by the Independent Safeguarding Authority, has been halted, the Home Office has announced.

The scheme, which was due to come into force on 26th July 2010, will be remodelled.

The government is now contacting 66,000 organisations, including charities, voluntary groups and education authorities, to tell them that the planned registration is being cancelled.

Eligibility for CRB checks is unaffected for the moment, and the planned introduction of new CRB application forms is still scheduled for 26th July.

For a summary of the latest situation and information on checks that are still in place, see Sandy Adirondack’s legal update for the voluntary sector.

The spring/summer 2010 edition of SUSTAiN’s newsletter is now available and has been distributed to all voluntary and community organisations in Solihull. You can also download below.

A key theme in this issue is challenges; acknowledging we are in difficult times, this edition features some of the ways SUSTAiN is committed to helping the local third sector rise and respond to what lies ahead.

If you would like a copy sent out to you, or you require an alternative format, please let us know by calling 0121 711 3148 or emailing enquiries@solihull-sustain.org.uk.

SUSTAiN newsletter – spring summer 2010