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Charity opened
its doors to new business opportunities
THE children's charity,
Stick 'n' Step, welcomed representatives from various local
businesses to an open day at its centre on the Wirral on Wednesday,
22 January 2014.
The charity recently launched its 50/50 challenge, which is a
fundraising initiative aimed at businesses with the goal of raising
£150,000 throughout 2014. The open day provided an ideal opportunity
for businesses involved in the challenge to meet everyone at the
centre and see first hand how the money raised will be used. It was
also a great chance to gain a greater insight into the work that
Stick 'n' Step does for children with cerebral palsy across the
North West.
During the open day, guests had the opportunity to look in on a
session, learning how conductive education works and its importance
to the development of abilities in children who attend Stick 'n'
Step. This enabled guests to see the specialist facilities at the
centre in everyday use, including the Sage Room, Sensory Room and
the main session spaces, which gave a greater understanding of the
positive experience that Stick 'n' Step provides. There was also an
opportunity to network and share ideas with each other, which is an
important aspect to the success of the 50/50 challenge.
Amongst the guests were Deputy
Mayor of Wirral, Cllr. Steve Foulkes, representatives from local
businesses, and a group of year 8 students from Ridgeway High
School, many of whom have already been busy raising money. Examples
of some of the fundraising activities already undertaken by those in
attendance include donating £10 every time a paying customer
references the challenge, £10 donation for every hot bamboo massage
sold and taking an icy dip in the River Mersey on Boxing Day. The
students from Ridgeway High School have also held bake sales, car
washes, raffles and more.
Commented Kerry Roe-Ely, Community and Events Fundraiser at Stick
'n' Step:- "We rely heavily on the support of businesses and
community fundraisers in the area, to ensure our doors are kept
open. For us to have been able to open our doors to our fundraisers
and invite them to look in, is something we believe important. It
enabled us to provide them with a full understanding of what exactly
it is that we do, and how vital our services are to those who attend
Stick 'n' Step. The 50/50 challenge is a huge target that we have
set for ourselves, having never undertaken any business fundraising
initiatives on this scale before, so 2014 should be a really
exciting year."
If you are a business that is looking to fundraise for a local good
cause, there are still a few challenge spaces remaining. Because the
challenge does not require individual business fundraising targets,
it is never too late to join; every penny counts towards the
£150,000 collective target! For more information about how you can
help Stick 'n' Step by being involved in the 50/50 challenge,
contact Kerry Roe-Ely, Community and Events Fundraiser on:- 0151 638
0888 or
email. Alternatively visit:-
sticknstep.org.
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ROYAL MARINES
COOK WITH THE VIKINGS
THE Vikings linked up with
the Royal Marines for a community cooking extravaganza at Stadium
Fitness.
The First Team, under 19's, Under 16's Academy players and their
parents took part in a cooking class with a difference as the Royal
Marines came to town to reinforce Vikings in the Community's healthy
eating and lifestyle messages.
Colour Sergeant Mike Beaton spent the day with the Vikings and he
delivered a series of workshops in a bid to educate players and
parents of the benefits of cooking from scratch.
The partnership with the Vikings
came about through Widnes' Head of Strength and Conditioning Clive
Brewer who worked with Colour Sergeant Beaton in his former role at
the RFL and most recently with Scotland RL at RLWC2013.
Brewer said:- "It was a hugely successful day for us because
11 of the First Team players were able to benefit from Mike's visit
and the new aspects he introduced them to. We're trying to turn
these players into 24/7 athletes and this gives them an opportunity
to learn how to cook for themselves and get hands on with food. The
Academy lads are in full time education alongside their practical
Rugby League side of things, so they were keen to learn how to cook
and develop what is a key life skill at their age. We also brought
the scholarship lads down, along with their parents which was a
great experience all round, they're eating the food, trying the food
and getting others involved."
Ed Tooley, Vikings nutritionist, was also there to cast his eye over
the session and he passed on some worthwhile advice.
He said:- "People can get caught up in special diets or
routines that they see in magazines but the main thing is to go back
to basics and use fresh, good food. Buying food that has good
quality proteins in, healthy sources of fats, a good range of fruit
and veg and good carbohydrates is important and of course people
need to stay hydrated."
Colour Sergeant Beaton said:- "It was a hugely successful day.
I taught the players and parents that it's important to ground
yourself by working from scratch with raw ingredients, cooking them
and then cleaning up after yourself afterwards. I enjoyed working
with them and passing on my experiences to them, as well as talking
to them at length about my time with the Royal Marines. For the 16
year olds especially who are still staying with parents, it's about
teaching them to fend for themselves and be able to do things such
as this, because there will probably come a point where they move
out and have to get on with activities like this. Another important
message that I relayed to them was that 'food is money' so every
time their parents cook for them it is costing hard earned money to
do so."
There's also another strand to the
day and that's a career after Rugby League or for some players,
before it even begins.
Colour Sergeant Beaton added:- "I know the Vikings are looking
after their players and educating them. However, if a young lad
fails to make it at the Vikings, or in Rugby League for that matter,
then they can at least consider an alternate career with us in the
Marines. If they enjoy the physical activity then a career at the
Marines is ideal because of the outdoor activity, intense exercise
and discipline that we instil into them."
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