Hays Travel Allestree Get Their Walking Boots On For Children First Derby

On Sunday 13th August, four members of the team from Hays Travel in Allestree complete a tough 17 mile walk, raising £519.00 for Children First Derby.

Kelly, Arran, Kacey and Emmie from The Hays Travel Allestree decided to arrange a sponsored walk from Hays Travel Allestree to East Midlands Airport.

Starting at 8.30am on the Sunday morning, the long walk which went through The City Centre, Alvaston, Shardlow and Castle Donington, before ending at East Midlands Airport Arrivals, took 8 hours and 30 minutes, 3 pub stops and 37,707 steps to complete.

Kelly Irvine, Branch Manger explained, “We decided to support Children First Derby as it is a cause that we really care about, and a charity that aligns with our values and beliefs here at Hays Travel. Hays Travel are big ambassadors of supporting local charities within our communities.”

Hays Travel have their own charity, the Hays Foundation which focuses on causes supporting and helping children and families. Each year the branches are all encouraged to do charity and community work in their own local areas and are given £500 to help them with this.

“Although it was tougher than we thought, and I couldn’t move afterwards, we really did enjoy walking for this great charity.” added Kelly.

“It was a great day for team building too and we felt really accomplished at the end of it. The pub stops on route certainly helped too. We decided to do a walk to the airport as we wanted to do something linked to travel.

We can’t wait to do more in the future to support Children First Derby and other causes in our community.”

The walk raised a fantastic £519.00 through donations on Just Giving before the walk, and in cash donations that were donated along the way.

Louise Webb, Fundraising Coordinator at Children First Derby said, “We are really grateful to Hays Travel for fundraising for us. The team all did a great job completing the walk and not only did they raise a fantastic amount, but they helped raise awareness of the charity, wearing our branded t-shirts, talking to people on the way and sharing lots of photos on social media.

We are delighted that they chose to support us and can’t wait to do more work with them in the future.”

Children First Derby Receive Significant Grant For Creative Club

Children First Derby has received a grant of £14,942.00 from the Open Work Foundation for the delivery of a mentoring Creative Club for young people.

The Creative Club will build on Children First Derby’s already successful mentoring programme that supports vulnerable 10–18-year-olds living in Derby.

Children First Derby provides effective support with managing challenges, increasing self confidence and self-esteem, reducing isolation, and improving self-regulation.

The funding will create a safe space and provide opportunities to implement a creative setting for positive peer interactions and activities to develop key skills.  It will also offer additional one-to-one mentoring.

The activities will be delivered in partnership with external providers to ensure that the additional and varied needs of the children are met.

Kerreene Davidson, Mentoring Service Manager, explained, “The pandemic and current economic climate have escalated needs, continues to impact families, and exacerbate challenges young people face.”

Kerreene went on to explain, “Our group work immediately serves a larger number of mentees with the option of one-to-one support if required. It offers an environment to promote diversity, consider different perspectives and inspires young people to share their ideas and express opinions”.

Derbion Summer Fun Day Friday 1st September

Join us for a Family Fun Day on Friday 1st September at Derbion to help raise funds for the charity.

Have a go at hook a duck, play giant connect four or win some chocolate on the tombola. From face painting to balloons and craft, there will be plenty for all the family to enjoy.

ACTRESS GWEN TAYLOR ENTERTAINS AUDIENCE AT CHARITY LUNCHEON

Children First Derby celebrated the hugely successful return of its popular Annual Fundraising Luncheon, held on 28th June at Morley Hayes Derby, which raised crucial funds to help support local vulnerable children, young people, and families.

The event was attended by over 80 people including prominent local business leaders and dignitaries, with guests of honour including the Deputy Mayor of Derby, Councillor Ged Potter.

Derbyshire born actress Gwen Taylor, who is also a patron of Children First Derby, has appeared in many British television programmes including Duty Free, Barbara, Heartbeat, Coronation Street and Eastenders, attended the luncheon as the guest speaker.

She delivered a funny and emotional speech, sharing stories from her time acting which had the audience both laughing and crying. Gwen was happy to chat with anyone that wanted to speak to her, and even gave tips to aspiring actress and mentoring volunteer Mia Luft, who helps run the drama group at Children First Derby.

“It was a fantastic experience speaking to Gwen and I found her insight on drama schools and how to get experience invaluable. I hope to be as successful as her one day!” said Mia.

As an extra surprise, Gwen brought along her leaving gift from her most recent stint on Eastenders, an Albert Square sign, signed by all the cast to show the luncheon guests.

“It was lovely to hear about Gwen’s life in theatre and acting, she was a pleasure to listen to and made the crowd smile and we are lucky to have her as a patron.”  Louise Web, Fundraising Coordinator at Children First Derby.

As part of the event, guests enjoyed a two-course luncheon, served in the Pavilion. The charity’s fundraising team led fundraising activities throughout the afternoon, which included a raffle and bonus ball game.

“We were delighted to see so many people from the local community come together at our luncheon. We rely on public funding and fundraising events such as these to operate our Mentoring and Family Support Services. Thank you to everyone who attended and everyone that helped make the event a success.” added Louise.

Thanks also went to the all the staff at Morley Hayes, who worked hard to help make the event a success and generously provided all guests with a complementary reception drink on arrival.

CHILDREN FIRST DERBY LAUNCH SUMMER HOLIDAY TREASURE HUNT AT DERBION

Children First Derby will be running a Treasure Hunt at the Derbion throughout the summer holidays to raise money for the charity.

Launching on Friday 4th August, the treasure hunt sheets will be available for £2 from the Customer Service Desk in the Derbion Centre.

Children (and adults if they want to!) will be given a treasure hunt sheet with 12 clues to solve to find out which shops and restaurants they need to visit. In the window in each of the 12 locations, there will be a summer themed sticker.  It’s easy to take part, you just write down the symbols you find on the sheet and return it to Customer Service when you are done.

Every child that completes the treasure hunt will receive a small gift, which could be giant lollipop or fidget toy.

Every participant will also be entered into the grand prize draw. With prizes for 1st, 2nd and 3rd place you could be going home with a 3 in 1 tabletop game, a table football game or a cuddly build a bear.

The grand prize draw will take place on the final day of the treasure hunt, which is Friday 1st September at the Children First Derby Summer Fayre.

World Legends Family Fun Day – Derby Rugby Club

Join us for a Family Fun Day on Saturday 29th July at Derby Rugby Club.

There will be lots to do for all the family, from watching world legends play a rugby match to taster sessions for the kids, fair games and inflatables, face painting and stalls, drinks, food and entertainment. 

Published: 5th july