Enterprising young learners rise to challenge

Enterprising young learners rise to challenge

Young Coventry learners who are being helped into work by an employment and training company showed amazing enterprise and innovation as they raised funds for a local hospice by taking part in a special challenge.

Foundation Learning clients of Pertemps People Development Group (PPDG) raised £1,291 by taking part in the AJ Lloyd Take50Challenge in aid of Myton Hospice. PPDG agreed to boost the funds, ensuring the hospice receives a total donation of £1,500.

The A J Lloyd Take50Challenge saw companies from across Coventry and Warwickshire take part in a 50-day competition to raise money for the hospice. It saw 10 PPDG learners, aged 16 to 18, come up with various creative fundraising ideas.

Each team started with £50 and had to turn it into £1,000 in 50 days. The youngsters dreamed up an incredible 34 different fundraising ideas. One of the ideas was a sponsored walk around Coombe Abbey which raised £212, and taking part in Coventry Fun Run which raised £45. An auction collected a further £216, while a hamper raffle £79.

Fredica Miles, aged 18, from Coventry, was one of the young learners who particularly excelled in the fundraising and also volunteered to work at the Myton Hospice Shop in Bell Green for a month.

She said: “It is such a worthwhile cause that when I was taking part in the fundraising it inspired me to want to do even more for Myton Hospice so I decided to carry out a few hours of voluntary work per week in the hospice shop which I really enjoyed. The challenge was really fun as we all came up with some great fundraising ideas which helped us to exceed our target. I think we all got a lot out of the challenge as it motivated us to work together and come up with ideas to raise money for such a wonderful cause.”

Debbie Jones, multifunctional trainer at PPDG, said: “The group were highly motivated and worked so well together during the duration of the challenge. All of the learners are unique in their own. They came up with so many great fundraising ideas and the amount they raised was just brilliant. They had great fun working together to raise such a fantastic amount of money for such a worthwhile cause.”

Hannah Morris, corporate fundraising development manager at Myton Hospice, added: “We are delighted with the support our teams have shown over the course of the A J Lloyd Take50Challenge. I would like to say a big thank you to Pertemps People Development Group who held a huge range of fundraising activities over the 50 days that involved staff and young people. The Myton hospices have to raise £6.7 million each year and we couldn’t do it without the support of the local community and businesses such as PPDG.”

PPDG’s team of employment experts provides advice on benefits, confidence building, one-to-one support, CV and interview preparation as well as finding the right job or training course. In partnership with DWP, the Ministry of Justice and Jobcentre Plus, PPDG delivers a diverse range of employment and training initiatives including and many programmes financed by the European Social Fund. PPDG came fourth in The Sunday Times Best Companies to Work For 2011.