Lichfield networking group Britestart making a difference

4th December 2015

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This year due to end in February 2016, they have supported MyAware (based in Sutton Coldfield – www.myaware.org) and they hope to donate somewhere in the region of a thousand pounds over the course of 12 months from group profits and fundraising by members.

Another way of "putting something back" is to donate a Christmas tree to a local school. This year they had a couple of members with children at St Chad’s Primary in Lichfield, so they donated a tree to them for their Lichfield Cathedral Christmas tree display. It is a great way of doing something good locally and losing some profit at the same time! Jodie Jones from St Chad’s said, “Thank you for your kind donation of a Christmas tree. Our Year 1 pupils have enjoyed creating some 'Christmas Critters' to decorate the tree with and we are grateful to BriteStart Networking Group for choosing us to give a tree in their annual donation.”

The tree is now installed in Lichfield Cathedral and can be seen up to Monday 21st December. BriteStart chairman, Nic Whittaker of Four Oaks Financial Services said “It is a fantastic thing to be able to support local schools with our group. We are 23 strong and come together to support each other in business, passing referrals and work amongst each other on a fortnightly basis at meetings at the Saxon Penny pub. Although we are essentially all there to grow our businesses and make money, we all share a belief that giving something back is very important. We give our support to a charity each year and get involved with local schools with a tree every Christmas.”

BriteStart Treasurer Gareth Robertson added “We are fortunate to have a group of members willing to give up time and resources to come down and help decorate the tree with the school staff.

Even better this year, a local Garden Centre – The Plant Plot – gave us a tree in exchange for a £50 donation to Midland Air Ambulance. So this year we have been able to support MyAware, St Chad’s School and Midland Air Ambulance! It all comes together at Christmas time too so it is a great time of the year for our group members and has us all feeling very festive!”

BriteStart meet fortnightly at the Saxon Penny in Lichfield and welcome applications to visit, enquiries should be directed to chairman Nic Whittaker via email: britestartnetworking@gmail.com. We also welcome applications from charities looking for support from the business sector and any schools who would like to be considered for a Christmas tree next year.

Pictured are: L to R - Gareth Robertson (Design Pit), Chris Smith (Inlife Web Design), Jodie Jones (St Chad’s School), Nic Whittaker (FourOaks Financial Services), Diana Muir (The Plant Plot), Laura Franklin (Think Delegate) and Louie Clegg (The Best of Lichfield).

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