Entry is free and viewing will be from 6.30-7.30 over a glass of wine before the auction begins.

For more information contact Carol Taylor – carol.taylor@children-ne.org or visit the website www.children-ne.org

The programme will help address the current economic conditions affecting businesses in two ways. Companies with people who might be at risk of redundancy or on short time working will be encouraged to release them for an agreed time to work on a secondment basis in other SME’s and social enterprises across the region. .

Examples of the types of skills businesses may benefit from are: ICT, Graphic Design, Marketing, Engineering, Construction, Manufacturing, Quality Systems (this list is not exhaustive).

Subsidies will be provided to the current employer (donor company) up to 60%, with the balance of the salary costs met by the developing SME (host company).

For more information contact Richard Atkinson @ TEDCO on 0191 4283458 or ratkinson@tedco.org

The programme has been partly funded by community grants such as The Communities Fund and Drugs Action Team funding.  The main aspect of the programme surrounds engagement with the individual with the initial outcome being Life Style Development for the individual, the other potential outcome are optional outcomes within the programme dependant on the individuals need.

In order to develop the individual it was necessary to consider how we could inspire the individual to create their own personalised action plan rather than front load them with options.  To this end I turned to the business sector through DCM to identify people whom I considered could assist in this field.

This is the difficult interface between the Business Sector and the Third Sector where I think there is a breakdown of purpose between the financial driven profit making orientation of the Business Sector and the not for profit, in many cases, voluntary commitment of the Third Sector (Voluntary and Community Groups).  What I needed to find was business people with the necessary skills who were willing to give up on a voluntary basis some of their time to develop the necessary programme I required.

In this particular case through DCM I managed to identify two business people Suhan Mihcioglu of Inscape Learning and Christine York of Ambition Academy.

After a number of meetings (at no cost to the funding) Suhan produced a ‘Self Actualisation’s programme which was successfully delivered over 10 weeks for which Suhan was paid from the funding on a weekly basis.

Within the client group one person was identified as in need of personal one to one life style development and through DCM Suhan and I identified Christine York as having the ideal skills for this particular person.  Suhan engaged with Christine and she, on a voluntary basis, identified the need of the client and then undertook the required work funded by the programme.

I can only describe the programme and the interface with DCM members as a success.

A full report on the programme has been submitted to the appropriate funding body which has been well received.

Further funding has been made available to take the programme forward in 2010.

I have no doubt that during the interface with others within the client group other specific individual needs will be identified and once again this is where I consider a well identified, data base of business sector provision can help the third sector in order to meet the needs of the individual and give business to those people who are willing in the early stages give up some of their time voluntary to develop a specific plan that they can implement when funded to assist the individual programme clients to achieve their ‘Self Actualisation Action Plan.

The person mentioned in this article after 14 years of unemployment, went for an interview for a part time job with another member of DCM who having heard about the work being done within this project at  the last DCM evening meal rang me the next day and offered the person concerned an opportunity to take up part time employment.

This is the Third Sector and Business Sector through the DCM interface making a real difference to people’s lives.

Kevin Pitt – The Billingham Partnership and Forcesnoticesboards - kevin@forcesnoticeboards.com

I met Kevin at one of our DCM evening meals and found out about The Billingham Environmental Link Programme a multi faceted Community Programme. After a number of meetings Kevin identified an individual currently taking part in the programme who he thought may benefit from some lifestyle coaching. This would add value to the programme they we’re currently attending delivered by Suhan of inscape a fellow DCM member. Both organisations work in a similar field of people development but offer very different things and this seemed a very good fit. I think its important to recognise that all people deserve the right support no matter the challenge and cost shouldn’t be a barrier, unfortunately this is sometimes the case. Through the partnership we we’re able to develop a bespoke programme covering the areas that the individual wanted to work on and we set out and achieved the objective. Working in partnership for me is essential and so much more can be achieved by this. It was an absolute pleasure working not only with the Billingham Partnership team but also the individual.

Christine York,  Ambition Academy -  ambition.academy1@ntlworld.com

Inscape Learning & Development Ltd was commissioned by the Billingham Environmental Link Project (BELP),  in conjunction with the BELP team, to create a Life Style Development Programme for their client group from within the BELP-Engagement Programme.

The purpose of the BELP – Life Style Development Programme was to change the participants’ thinking and behaviour in regard to a number of areas such as self-esteem and engagement with the community, leading them into training, education or employment in due course and as appropriate.

Using DCM’s dynamic platform and through true collaboration and professional interaction of DCM members Kevin Pitt of the BELP team and Christine York of Ambition Academy, we conducted the programme on behalf of the Billingham Partnership.

Overall,  the Life Style Development Programme has been highly successful and the evaluation from the clients on the whole programme was exceptional.

It has been our pleasure to conduct this work on behalf of the Billingham Partnership and we are very pleased that such an opportunity has been created and that three DCM member organisations participated in this project within their first year of DCM membership.

Suhan Mihcioglu – Inscape Learning Ltd- suhan@inscapelearning.com

SO THIS is Christmas – nearly 200 runners in Santa suits, enough mince pies to dam-up the River Tees and a guy dressed as a giant turkey.

It was all to raise festive cheer – and Christmas cash for Teesside Hospice.

The first ever Santa Run in Middlesbrough’s Centre Square got off to a damp start yesterday.

But after a few mince pies, warm-up exercises and chuckles with friends, the contenders were ready to start the 3km race.

The course was three laps of the square, starting from the Christmas tree, and fancy dress – namely a red and white hat, coat and trousers – was compulsory.

Dad-of-four Mike Gallagher from Acklam had the dubious honour of donning a massive turkey outfit and being chased off the starting line.

“It’s all about just helping out a good cause,” said the 44-year-old recruitment consultant.

“My wife Mary has done quite a bit of work for the hospice.

“I think they’ll be chasing me for a bit but then I’ll drop out.

“It’s quite interesting trying to run with your hands all bound up like this. I feel like Houdini.”

His six-year-old daughter Emma was also getting into the Christmas spirit, dressed in her Santa suit to take part in the 300-metre Santa’s Little Helper run for youngsters.

“I was looking forward to getting dressed up as Santa,” said Emma.

Anne Mallory of Marton liked the idea of rounding off her running season in style and raising money for charity to boot.

“It’s a good cause,” she said.

“I tend to do races during the year. I started with the 5k and I thought that this would be a great way to end the year for a good cause – plus I get the chance to dress up as Santa.”

North Sea rig worker Phil Cripps, who was dressed as an elf, was spending time with his four-year-old daughter Paris before he goes back offshore.

“I’m working offshore over Christmas and we’re all going to get dressed up and I’ll be wearing this,” he said.

“It’s going to be a competition – who can wear the maddest outfit.

“They go through your clothes before you go on the rig so they’re going to think ‘what the hell’s this!’.”

The idea for the run may have come from across the pond, but participants showed a distinctly British stiff-upper-lip when it came to braving the elements, said Teesside Hospice’s fundraising manager Jane O’Bryne.

“This is the first Teesside Hospice Santa Run. They do it in America and attract thousands of runners.

“Anything a bit mad usually attracts people. I had a feeling that anybody who’s prepared to run 3k in a Santa suit would still come out in the rain.

“We got a really good reaction. We had to ask Middlesbrough Council and they were really up for it right from the beginning.

“We thought we’d start small and build up. Next year we’re planning to make it even bigger.”

See more pictures of the event

Two ladies who have become familiar to club goers in Newcastle over the years for their charity collecting dressed as cowgirls received the surprise of their lives at Christmas when they found a new rival cowgirl collector on their patch in the Bigg Market.  It was none other than TV personality Noel Edmonds who had come along to surprise them with a reward of a Noel’s Christmas Present for all their hard work over the years in aid of Children North East and other local charities.

For the last 36 years Olive Cook (71) and Margaret Lawson (83) of Hebburn, South Tyneside have done many unconventional things to raise money and they have done it in style – raising over £1 million.  For around 20 years they have been extracting donations from young (and not so young) clubbers on a Friday and Saturday night for Children North East while entertaining them with their line dancing and colourful cowgirl outfits.

Margaret’s grandson, Malcolm, nominated the pair who have their own Facebook Fan Page, for a Noel’s Christmas Present and on Sunday 20^th December viewers of the programme on Sky1 saw the ladies surprised by Noel, then at a party held for them to meet the beneficiaries of their collections, they were whisked off for a trip of a lifetime to the home of country music, Nashville, Tennessee.

While in Tennessee, Noel took them to the Country Music Awards, bought them some brand new cowgirl gear, they met the Mayor and then the biggest surprise of all they met international superstar Dolly Parton who presented them with gold necklaces to commemorate their trip.

What a surprise for two loyal and hardworking volunteers of Children North East and their hard work paid off again when live on the televised show Noel presented them with one more present – a complete IT Suite for Children North East that will be installed in the West End Youth Enquiry Service when its refurbishment is complete later this year.

NEWS UPDATE:

Tim Healy and Denise Welch help out youth service

Jan 25 2010 by Alastair Gilmour, The Journal

Geordie actor Tim Healy and wife Denise Welch helped lay the foundations of a building project that will benefit vulnerable youngsters in Newcastle. Tim also wheeled barrows and swung lump-hammers at the West End Youth Enquiry Service (WEYES) on Westgate Road, a run-down Victorian house operated by Children North East, one of the region’s oldest charities.

Over the past 10 years, 7,500 young people have approached WEYES where counsellors and nurses give advice on general, sexual and mental health problems, as well as on education, housing and employment issues.

Now the building is being renovated with the help of Newcastle-based _space architecture, which has donated its design and surveying services free of charge.

Tim said: “We support a number of charities but we’re keen to be involved with Children North East because we’re married, we’ve got children and I feel it’s our responsibility.

“I was born and brought up 200 yards away from here, in Colston Street. My mam and dad had a little shop and we lived in the flat above. The community was great, miners and shipbuilders – everybody had their front door key on a string behind the letterbox, it was that sort of place with a massive community spirit.

“Sadly, the whole place changed in the 1970s when the mines and the shipyards closed. They started developing the area and the community split and spread out all over.

 “Now lots of young people here find life very, very difficult. But the WEYES drop-in centre will be a fantastic place for those young people to come.”

Children North East chief executive Jeremy Cripps said: “We previously rented the building so we were unable to do anything to it. It had become a really horrible site – inside and out – needing a lot of work to make it a bright and welcoming place for young people.

“Children North East has since bought the building and now with the magnificent help of _space architecture we are really able to do things to make it look fabulous.”

Denise Welch is also proud of her association with the WEYES project and readily embraces the opportunity to work with some of the region’s most difficult-to-reach children.

She said: “I love being involved with Children North East and I love working with teenage groups. There are a lot of them like lost souls, but they’ve got a lot to give and life can be confusing for them.”

Space Group chief executive Rob Charlton said: “Children North East is our chosen charity, so we were only too pleased to donate all our services in kind because we know the project will make so much difference to the young people who live, work or go to school in the West End of Newcastle.

“_space architecture has fully completed the designs for the brighter and more up-to-date building and now _space build, the principal contractor for the project, is moving on site, which is really exciting.”

Children North East had to raise £300,000 to help the project come to life and to fund building materials.

To help support the WEYES project, donations are invited online at www.justgiving/weyes

or at Children North East on 0191 256 2444

We continue to grow from strength to strength with membership numbers increasing daily and we are very close to our target of 250 before the waitlist begins.  We have had many meetings this month with some very influential businesses and our Corporate membership list is very impressive.

2010 will be an exciting year for us, starting with our meeting at Westminster to discuss how the model can benefit the private and public  sectors.  We are also starting work on our separate online site which will be tested and launched in the early part of Spring so keep up to date with this progress through our meetings, website and newsletters.  Our Meet the Professionals events have received excellent feedback this year and these will continue to get even better as the New Year unfolds.

All that is left for me to say is thank you to our members who continue to support and believe in our exciting future, I personally look forward to the opportunities that 2010 will offer DCM and its members and wish you all a peaceful and happy Christmas.

With best wishes

Paul Lawton

Founder, Director DCM

Jeeves, run by Denise Browne, is a fruit and vegetable shop, florists and juice and sandwich bar.

Ms Browne, who has run fruit and veg shops in the past, was introduced to Gordon Brown Associates during the process of investigating the lease.

Moya Mason, partner at Gordon Brown Associates, is based in Sunderland, and helped her to secure the lease for the new shop in North Road, Durham.

The shop is open seven days a week and Ms Browne has employed four part-time staff to help her to run Jeeves.

Ms Mason said: “Denise has created a very diverse business in Jeeves, giving something for everyone and it is great to see a new business taking off and creating work in the area. We wish her all the best for the future.”

Ms Browne added: “The service from Gordon Brown Associates was excellent, I can’t fault them. The firm helped me through the process of getting the lease and I would recommend their friendly service on the basis of what they have done for me.”