Slough Get a 'Wiggle' On

[caption id="attachment_5822" align="aligncenter" width="577"] The all important group photo :)[/caption]

Further to last week's fun at Rowan House, we have news of the great time Slough had with Wig Wednesday! Shefali Patel reports...

Our first charity event at Slough house was a great success and most of us had a great day putting smiles on people’s faces. In total around 25 staff members came in to work wearing a wig.

Clive Element – Group House Manager supported a Rastafarian dreadlock wig, Alicia Alexander – Support Manager long blonde locks and Slavomir Pietluch, Distribution Manager wearing an Afro...!!

We do admit – it was a struggle trying not to laugh through the day!!

This event of Wig Wednesday raised the total amount of £454.40 which will be donated to our chosen charity – Wexham Park Hospital.

It looks like you had loads of fun Shefali, and that's a fantastic total raised :)

Fun With Wig Wednesday

We've news just in from Rowan House and LTN about last week's Wig Wednesday!

First up it's Rowan House...

[caption id="attachment_5784" align="aligncenter" width="640"] What could be better to cheer up a Wednesday than wigs... and cakes! Group shot left to right is Jo Kelly, Laura Morris, Emma Allan, Jo Macpherson and Amanda Jones[/caption]

Emma Allan also organised a cake sale – lots of ladies from Rowan House brought in yummy cakes and savoury goodies to sell and raise money. Nic Hewlett’s monster of a pie went down well as usual! In total just over £100 was raised for CLIC Sargent – not bad for a morning’s work!



And not content with all his efforts for the Paris Marathon, here's a photo of Eugene, LTN Distribution Manager. He raised a very respectable £12 just from sitting at his desk in his wig! He said, “Not much raised, but this event helped to raise a smile around the warehouse.”

Are there any more wigs waiting out there to be shared, Slough for example... ??? We'd love to see your pics! :)

Slough Get Going

Hot on the heels of yesterday's fundraising update, we have news of Slough House's plans to add to the total :)

Shefali Patel reports:

As a Community Champion for Slough House I would like you to know we have organised 3 charity events:

1. Wig Wednesday – 22^nd May 2013. Everyone will be coming in to work on the day with a wig and making a donation.


2. Race for Life – 2^nd June 2013. The ladies at Slough House will be participating in the 5km event at Windsor. [Their Just Giving page shows there's 14 ladies taking part, marvellous - Ed]


3. Sponsored Shave – 19^th June 2013. An employee who have not shaved his beard for last 30 years will be shaving it on the day for charity. 

All proceeds raised during Wig Wednesday and the Sponsored Shave will be donated to the Children’s ward at the local hospital in Slough.

Fantastic news Shefali! Looking forward to seeing those wigs tomorrow! Is anyone else out there joining in for Wig Wednesday? It would be great to feature everyone on Community Link-Up!

Getting Wiggy With It

[caption id="attachment_5269" align="alignright" width="198"] The Consortium's Jo Trigg unwittingly gets in training for Wig Wednesday on Red Nose Day[/caption]

Save the date!

Wednesday 22nd May - 4 weeks today - is officially designated as Wig Wednesday!

Organised by CLIC Sargent, Wig Wednesday is one big day when people across the UK will unite to raise vital funds for children and young people with cancer. As well as being a frightening experience, the gruelling, often life-saving cancer treatment frequently leads to them losing their hair.

Wig Wednesday is the perfect way of raising awareness in a fun way as well as supporting a good cause.

Don't have a wig? Don't worry, CLIC Sargent have got it covered! Visit their official store to buy your wig and you're already donating to the cause.

So, get together with your colleagues, wear a wig for the day and ask them to make a donation to take part. Don't forget to take some photos - the wiggier the better - and send them to Community Link-Up. We'll add a £20 donation for each location featured :)

Red Nose Day Round-up

Last Friday saw an outbreak of red noses - and cakes! - as many locations got down to the serious business of funraising for Comic Relief. Here's a quick tour of the day's highlights...

Borehamwood...

...entered into a Bake Off with strong entries from across the group. Group Manager Jim Sinden was nominated as chief taster which he struggled to say no to!

Jim enjoyed the full experience of tasting all entries and awarded first prize to Becky in CS for a lovely moist carrot cake that was to his liking.

Well done to everyone who took part in the day, raising £160.

And then over at...

...Bertrams

A Mary Berry style bake-off raised £271.57 in total.

£41.16 of that came from the sales team following their Onesie/PJ’s and casual wear antics.  The photo is of Carole Fletcher (Account Executive) and Faye Barnes (Account Manager). Faye is on the left, Carole on the right.

The Consortium made sure their presence at the Education Show didn't stop them joining in on the fun! They simply brought forward their Red Nose Day to the Wednesday and held a 'cross-site' event, meaning both Trowbridge and Shrewsbury got involved.

[gallery type="rectangular" link="post" ids="5268,5269,5270,5271"]

As Comic Relief celebrates its 25 year anniversary this year, they chose 'everything 80’s' as their theme for a dress up day. Prizes were awarded for best fancy dress in all locations – for field sales, a prize was on offer for the most subtle costume!

Lots of comic cakes were also baked to celebrate. As you can see they submitted a few pictures of everyone dressed up, but the cakes were snapped up too quickly for photos! A total of  £237 was raised across the two sites.

[gallery type="rectangular" link="post" ids="5274,5275"]

And finally, Rowan House have submitted evidence of cakes disguised as red noses! This was the first cake sale since moving office in Swindon last October, so it was long overdue.

Staff baked lots of cakes and other sweet goodies, which sold extremely well throughout the day. And following demand for some savoury goodies, our resident ‘Great British Baker’ Nic Hewlett (Finance) baked one of her legendary pies - this one was chicken, sausage meat and stuffing. There wasn’t much time to admire it though - as people were queuing up to devour it!

Their funraising netted £136.85, thus making a grand total of £805.42 for this report :)

Newport Get Funraising

[gallery type="rectangular" link="post" ids="5208,5207,5205,5204,5203,5202"]

Newport made sure they had plenty of funraising last week when they held a two-day extravaganza in aid of Comic Relief! Hover your mouse over the pictures for more information and a who's who :)

As well as zipwire, wiggy, biking and onesie action, they sold bacon and sausage baps to warehouse staff on Thursday, together with cakes made by Connor Yalland. Connor is the 10 year-old son of Michelle who works in the office (she's pictured in the middle of the front row in the group photo).  They also held a sweepstake to choose the hairstyle Jessie J would choose after she had her head shaved.

It looks like a lot of fun was had by all! A total of £82.70 was raised for Comic Relief.

Newport haven't forgotten the cause closest to their hearts either. Some of the above pictures also introduce their latest activities in support of St David's Foundation.

On Sunday, there was a 28 mile cycle ride from Caldicot to Newport and back. Saturday sees more zipwire action in Chepstow – a 800ft zip slide over a 250ft lake! Finally in May there's a 'onesie walk' across the Severn Bridge - a total of 11 miles.

Their efforts have also caught the attention of their local newspaper, who report the team has raised over £4,000 so far.

Look out for more Friday funraising later in the week as we're expecting further reports of red noses seen from around Smith News ;)

NB The watermarked pictures are courtesy and copyright of South Wales Argus.

Mobros Extra!

The turn of December last week saw a few chilly top lips as the Movember competition came to a close and moustaches were given the chop! Although we featured some of the most impressive 'taches in our December newsletter, they were plenty more contenders – here are a few of our favourites!

[caption id="attachment_4488" align="alignleft" width="1024"] This year's MoBros from Worcester[/caption]

First up we have a picture of 2012's Team from Worcester to compare with their efforts from last year. Did they do any better this time? You decide...

Next we reprise the award winning pinup Mos revealed in last week's December newsletter: Winner Paul Whittingham from Bertrams, plus runners up Trade Marketing's James Bullen and The Consortium's Adam Courthold.

The NAC Banditos show an impressive likeness to their proposed After shot we showed you previously!

Next we have a mixture of familiar and new faces showing off their final Mos...

[caption id="attachment_4508" align="alignleft" width="640"] From left to right and top to bottom: Andy Aitken (The Consortium), Andy Dunkerley, Robert Mackenzie (both Trade Marketing) and Robin Denton (Dawson)[/caption]

... and finally, the remaining guys from Trade Marketing line up to reveal an impressive variety of 'tache styles!

So far our 28 Mobros have raised a fantastic £1,985 between them. There's still time to  donate and get them over the magic £2,000 mark. Here's the full list of donation pages for your final contributions:

• Andy Aitken


• Adam Courthold


• Robin Denton


• Ian Howat


• Simon Lockett


• NAC Banditos


• Trade Marketing


• Paul Whittingham


• Worcester

Editor's Note - 12th October 2013 - the donation pages are no longer available on the Movember website, so the above links have been removed.

Movember is a fun way to raise awareness for men’s health charities so well done for everyone who got involved!

Update 10/12/2012: Thanks to your clicks through to the donations pages this morning, the total raised now stands at £2,005 :)

How's It Growing?

With just a week left to grow, we have news of new MoBros and lots of 'tache-tastic 'Mo' progress to show you!

There are now 28 Movember participants in Smiths News, hailing from 7 different locations...

Bertrams



Paul Whittingham joins the fray with an impressive Mo!

Saying It’s about time we did some charity work for men’s bits, Paul adds: It's just me and my moustache. Caption could be Hulk Hogan or Seth Armstrong from Emmerdale? – you choose!

Ideas anyone?

Borehamwood

Simon Lockett adds another new Mo and location to our Movember progress :)

Simon has a Just Giving page set up for his donations. Judging by the comments there, his new look is proving to be a 'marmite moment' - 'OMG', 'no likey' and 'the tash really suits you' are just a few of the remarks made thus far!

The Consortium

Andy Aitken and Adam Courthold  are growing well.

Adam is regularly updating his Mospace with progress. He supplied the latest picture of his Mo to left, and his Mospace has some nicely drawn cartoons of what he's hoping to achieve by the end of Movember.

Dawson

[caption id="attachment_4456" align="alignleft" width="300"] Dawson's Mobros Robin Denton and Ian Howat[/caption]

Dawson now have 2 MoBros! Robin Denton  says his motivation is:

My father had Prostate Cancer, now thankfully recovered, so just to raise awareness of this horrible disease.

Robin joins Ian Howat  who's having lots fun over on his Mopage - love the shades Ian!

NAC Banditos...

Andrew Stone (captain), Adam Hellewell, John Jefferson and Mike Ward are all keeping their Mos undercover at the half way stage - see you at the end for the full reveal guys!

Trade Marketing



As you can see the Trade Marketing team are sporting a variety of styles for Movember.

Here we have (from top left and then top right downwards and then bottom right to left) James Bullen, Nick Scraggs, Matt Piper (captain), Andrew Dunkerley, Robert Mackenzie and Tim Edridge.

We look forward to seeing how Neil Davies, Jas Rehal and Darrell Stead are getting on!

James Bullen has a particularly natty slideshow on his individual page! NB individual pages (where applicable) can be viewed via the team page links given.

Worcester

We now have the names of all 9 team members: Alex Williams (captain), Stuart Birch, Adam Buchanan, Matt Cooke,  Mark Falcon, Derek Hampton, James Lamb, Sam Page and Iain Sandison. They have an inventive game for you to play on their team page - can you match the nickname to the team member?

Between them our guys have raised £1,327 so far - follow the links above to your favourite's Movember page and let's see them go to £2,000 and beyond!

To encourage everyone in their final few days effort for this year's Movember, I leave you with the inspiration that is the World Beard and Moustache Championships ;)

NB Links to Just Giving and Movember fundraising pages are no longer available.

Worcester Weighs in for Movember

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="640"] Worcester's 'Team Movember' last year[/caption]

We have news of a new team on the block for Movember! Last year's team from Worcester are set to repeat their success with a mix of old and new faces for 2012. Team captain Alex Williams says:

We at the Magazine Sales Centre in Worcester have been taking part in this years ‘Movember’. There are a fair few of us giving it a go although too few have the real capacity to grow a decent moustache.

As well as Alex, the team includes Stuart Birch, Adam Buchanan, Mark Falcon, James Lamb and Sam Page.

We've just passed Movember's half way point - tune in next week to see how progress is growing!

A New Location For Movember

We've heard from Ian Howat of Dawson Books who's sent in his 'Before' picture for this year's Movember. I wonder which 'tache-style we'll be seeing at the 'After' stage?

Movember is a world-wide campaign which raised £88 million for male cancer research last year, with £22 million raised in the UK alone. I wonder how 2012 will fare? Here's Ian's Movember page for you to help top 2011's figure.

The brains behind Movember say that many thousands of lives were saved last year, especially as the estimated 1.2 billion conversations helped to raise awareness. So, just by reading this you're helping to make a difference!

*Newsflash* MoBros Extra!

[caption id="attachment_4293" align="alignright" width="140"] Andy Aitken anticipates the end of Movember ;)[/caption]

We have news just in of more MoBros from across the Group.

Andy Dunkerley has sent in his profile details for team Trade Marketing and Andy Aitken has added to The Consortium's Movember turnout.

James Bullen has joined Trade Marketing's team, so they now have 9 team members, not 8 as previously reported.

This means the Group has at least 15 Movember participants - tashtastic!

Aaaaaand so...

... the NAC Banditos have sent in their 'Before' picture and where they hope to be at the end of the month. Will they get there? Visiting their donation page may help...

NB Donation pages on Movember are no longer available - Ed

Movember Grows... and Grows!

[caption id="attachment_4237" align="alignright" width="268"] Adam's 'before' picture - courtesy of his Movember page[/caption]

We have another MoBro in the form of The Consortium's Adam Courthold.

Adam says his reasons for taking part are:

I know a few people who have had testicular cancer and treatment over the last few years. I'm doing Movember to raise awareness of it and to get people checking themselves. Catching the situation early is important so they can get the best treatment in place.

Adam's Movember page is now open :)

NB Trade Marketing's Rob Mackenzie has now sent in his Movember page details.

Thanks for joining in Adam! We'll be catching up with you, Rob and the rest of the MoBros soon.

Ready... Get Set... Grow!

[caption id="attachment_4202" align="alignleft" width="300"] Look! Even Royal Mail are getting in on the act![/caption]

Let's Grow! Teams and individuals taking part in the Movember Challenge should arrange to have their 'Before' pictures taken today, so they have a 'clean sheet' ready for November's growing.

So far we have participants from:

• NAC - The NAC Banditos


• Trade Marketing - Matt Piper and Tim Edridge


• Since writing about Matt and Tim, they've been joined by six of their Trade Marketing colleagues - Neil Davies, Andy Dunkerley, Rob Mackenzie, Jas Rehal, Nick Scraggs, and Darrell Stead


• Add you or your team's details here by completing a Publicity Form. NB this will kick-start your fundraising with a £20 donation!

At the time of writing, fundraising is already underway (over £100 and counting), even though it's not quite November yet :)

We'll be back soon to see how everyone's growing!

Another MoBro!

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="225"] The competition?[/caption]

Hot on the heels of yesterday's Movember post, we have news of another MoBro from Trade Marketing. Tim Edridge will be joining Matt Piper to see who can grow the best moustache.

Next week we'll provide details of everyone who's taking part. Tell us about you or your team's entry into this year's fun via the Publicity Form.

Are You Gearing Up for Movember?

[caption id="attachment_4166" align="alignright" width="300"] Can you guess the use for this mystery object found last Sunday?[/caption]

We have news coming in of teams getting together for this year's Movember Challenge :)

First up are the NAC Banditos from the National Accounting Centre: Andrew Stone (OPS Liaison Senior Clerk), Mike Ward (Publisher Accounts Clerk), John Jefferson (Publisher Accounts Clerk) & Adam Hellewell (Publisher Accounts Clerk).

Says Andrew:

Here at the NAC we have a proud history of fundraising through a wide range of events. Here was a chance have a bit of fun with facial hair and raise money for a very worthwhile cause.

A photo will be arranged of the team on November 1^st and then maybe some during the month charting the progress of moustaches.

Matt Piper, Trade Marketing's Territory Manager is also going to Support a cause close to my heart. He believes other colleagues are intending to take part from Trade Marketing and we look forward to hearing from them shortly.

Good luck to everyone taking part! NB There's still time to get a team together to join them for the start of Movember on November 1st.

Did you guess the mystery object? It's a moustache curler - an older version of curling tongs!

Movember Madness

[caption id="attachment_1390" align="aligncenter" width="640" caption="Back row: Alex Lewis, Chris Townrow, Stuart Birch, Ross Jones, James Lamb Front Row: Adam Buchanen, Steve Goode, Mark Falcon"][/caption]

There was a certain machismo in the air at the Worcester office in November, after seven hirsute volunteers agreed to put their faces on the line and raise money for Movember. Running every November, participants get sponsored to grow a moustache and show their support for men with prostate cancer and other male cancers.

In Bristol, Alec Moody, Pack Line Manager has also joined in the Movember madness and is hoping to raise £300 for his moustache. By the time you read this, Alec and the pictured Worcester team will have, as the Movember website puts it, groomed, trimmed and waxed their way into the annals of fine moustachery.

It’s not just the guys who are getting involved –Helen McHugh, Supply & Allocation
Executive who’s organised the event, has a few fundraising ideas of her own: To make fundraising more appealing, I’ve agreed with Chris that, if he raises more than £150, I’ll give him a week of tea and silence! James managed to negotiate an even better deal with Helen – I’ve agreed that if James raises more than £100, I’ll make his tea for the entire month of December.

So far the combined total raised between all participants is a fantastic £907.

If you would like to make a donation to support the Smiths News Team in Worcester (aka Hairy Smiths) or Alec Moody in Bristol you can find their profiles on the Movember website as follows:

Hairy Smiths - did anyone get their tea or silence?

Alec Moody - there's a chance to view a very fine moustache.

There are a number of photos and updates on there. Check them out! Funds raised benefit The Prostate Cancer Charity, The Institute of Cancer Research and the Movember Foundation.

Hair loss in Southampton

Well done to Dave Winn, House Manager, Southampton, and the Southampton staff - they've raised £210 for the charity AAIR, who are funding research at Southampton General Hospital.  Dave got sponsored to shave his hair off!

[caption id="attachment_1208" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="Before..."][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1209" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="...and after!"][/caption]

Beware of men in dark glasses

As promised, photographic evidence of Charlie Edwards of Shrewsbury House, who raised an incredible £600 in sponsorship for bleaching his hair blonde! 

What a magnificent effort and big thanks to everyone who sponsored him.

Proof Pink

[caption id="attachment_927" align="alignleft" width="250" caption="Dave Emms"][/caption]

It seems there's more than one gentleman out there keen to show his pink side - there have been at least 2 reported sightings of hair dyed pink for charity in the last few weeks.

Dave Emms -manager at Stoke House, and Matt Brown - night manager at Lincoln have been spotted sporting the new look.

Dave raised £217 , Matt raised £164.  Top effort lads!

Meanwhile there's a rumour that Charlie Edwards of Shrewsbury House is also doing something to his barnet - check back next week for photos and total amount raised.  So far he's gathered up £505!

[caption id="attachment_928" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Matt Brown"][/caption]

Punks in Stoke

Diane Nancarrow, Admin Assistant, Stoke House, raised a hefty £120 from her colleagues, by getting donations for showing up to work as a punk rocker. 

Quite a lot of the staff didn't recognise her when she arrived! 

Well done Diane.