A donation of more than £2,750 raised by Swindon accountants Banks BHG from a series of events held last year has been handed over to youth charity Inner Flame.
Staff at the firm baked cakes, held quizzes, hiked and played golf to raise £2,763.12 in aid of Inner Flame, which delivers The Prince’s Trust Team Programme in Swindon to help combat youth unemployment.
To mark the occasion – and because part of the funds were raised through weekly cake bakes – Banks BHG commissioned a cake iced with the amount raised.
Inner Flame chief executive Gail McKay said: “I think it’s fantastic of Banks BHG to support Inner Flame, we are really delighted and grateful.
“It’s great that so many events were spread over a whole year. The quizzes in particular were really enjoyable.”
Gail said the donation will be used to fund bus passes for young people to travel to their work placements. She said: “We provide free bus travel as otherwise many participants wouldn’t be able to afford to take part. The donation will pay for approximately 20 passes for the 12 week course.”
Banks BHG director Bernard Harrington added: “We very much enjoyed supporting Inner Flame during 2015. They are a great local charity and we’re very impressed with what they do for young people in Swindon. We’re also pleased to see the actual benefits of the donation in that it will be used to fund bus passes.”
Banks BHG staff have raised around £12,000 for local charities over the past five years, choosing one each year to support including Prospect Hospice and the children’s cancer charity CALM.
This year it will support Julia’s House, the children’s hospice for Dorset and Wiltshire, based in Poole. Plans are already underway to repeat the popular company bake-off while there will also be a quiz on April 28, a golf day and other sponsored events.
Pictured, from left: Banks BHG directors Bernard Harrington and Neil Elsden, with Gail McKay and David Wreathall of Inner Flame
