Chesterfield Champion and chartered accountants, BHP, has raised £27,000 for just over 50 charities in only one year.

Thanks to the efforts of the firm’s staff, who are based across offices in Sheffield, Cleckheaton, Leeds, Chesterfield, and York, several national and smaller local charitable causes will benefit from the donations.

In order to raise the money, the BHP team took part in dress down days, ran a tuck shop, organised raffles and a salsa night, as well as taking part in various sponsored sporting events.

BHP also supported staff who have taken part in their own individual fund-raising events by paying their entry fees into the Sheffield and Robin Hood half marathons, the Road to Freedom cycle ride, the endurance-testing Pretty Mudder 10K obstacle course and a gruelling white collar boxing event.

The firm has sponsored several specific causes that staff are personally connected with including Ashgate Hospice, Fairplay – which supports children and young people with disabilities and additional needs across North Derbyshire – Sight Support in Derbyshire, Whirlow Hall Farm in Sheffield, which gives educational visits to children, St Lukes Hospice in Sheffield, Hollybank Trust in Mirfield, which is a school for children with complex needs and the South Yorkshire Community Foundation which helps people facing hardships.

Cancer Research UK, Great Ormond Street Hospital, the Manchester bombing victims, Snowflake night shelter in Sussex, Yorkshire Air Ambulance, Yorkshire Cancer Research, Heart Research UK, The Candlelighters Trust, Save The Children, Children In Need and Leeds Children’s Hospital are also some of the charities to benefit from the fundraising.

Jane Marshall, Partner and Head of Charities at BHP, says:-

“I am very proud of everyone at BHP who have worked together to raise a substantial amount of money that will make a real difference to the numerous charities we are involved with.

“Our support of the annual Mistress Cutler Challenge in Sheffield meant that we were able to contribute towards helping mistress cutler, Dr Julie Edwards, to raise her target of £200,000 for The Children’s Hospital Charity and Cavendish Cancer Care Charity.

“Another charity which is very close to our hearts that we have raised money for, is the Daniel Wilkinson Foundation. Through our dinner dance raffle we made over £4,000 for the Foundation which was set up in memory of Daniel, who had just started out on his accounting career with us. Daniel collapsed due to an underlying heart condition known as Arrhythmogenic Right Ventricular Cardiomyopathy (ARVC) whilst playing football.

“The money donated will be used to raise awareness of ARVC, which can lead to Sudden Cardiac Death (SCD) by funding heart screening, defibrillators and CPR/defibrillator training, primarily for grass-roots sporting teams.”

Drivers on the work or school run around North Derbyshire now have a fresh new voice to kick-start the day.

Becky Hayes joins Ricky Durkin on Peak FM’s Breakfast Show from this week.  Becky’s no stranger to early starts having presented breakfast shows on some of the strongest stations in Yorkshire while having first hand local knowledge to bring to Breakfast on Peak FM.

The new show, which started on Monday 16^th April, is set to be filled with callers, social media interaction and what the station describe as a few surprises.  Tim Smith, Content Controller at Peak FM, said:-

“It’s an exciting time for us: Ricky joined us in 2016 and has done an amazing job growing our audience and engagement.  I’m delighted to welcome Becky to the show where I know her warmth and confident delivery will be a big hit with listeners.”

Becky said on her new appointment:-

“Living just down the road I’m used to waking up to Peak FM Breakfast and singing along with my three year old daughter.  Now it’s going to be me playing the songs and doing all that crazy stuff.

“I love Chesterfield and the peak district is just beautiful.  Plus I get on really well with Ricky and we’ve got so many ideas to get our teeth into.”

Ricky said about his new co-presenter:-

“It feels like we’re overflowing with ideas at the mo. People in North Derbyshire love getting involved in the show and both Becky and myself love getting out and about so we’ll just be having lots of fun every morning.”

Chesterfield Champion, The University of Derby, has received a £150,000 share of £1.5 million from the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE), awarded to 17 universities to improve support for the mental health and wellbeing of postgraduate research (PGR) students.

The University will use the award, boosted by match funding and in-kind investment, to create a national student wellbeing online resource, working alongside panels of existing PGR students, Kings College London and mental health charity Student Minds to develop and evaluate the new site.

The site will take a prevention and early intervention approach to student wellbeing, providing proactive multimedia resources that consider the whole PGR experience and support positive cultural change towards good mental health.

In its first year, the team anticipates that the resource will support 500 PGR students and aims to build on this year on year. Student panels recruited at each university will ensure the site meets their needs and will help to evaluate its impact. Once created, the site will be hosted and maintained by Student Minds, with the University of Derby investing in ongoing national webinars.

The University is already involved in a HEFCE-funded project on harassment, sexual violence and hate crime, which is also taking an educative approach to cultural change. Its work on psychoeducation has been recognised as good practice by HEFCE and is delivered across its academic programmes, with 86 percent of students stating that it helped them in their studies.

Jo Jones, Student Wellbeing Manager at the University of Derby, said:-

“I am delighted that we have received this funding from HEFCE, which is testament to the valuable work we’re doing in this field, and to be working with our partners at Student Minds and Kings College London. It’s really exciting to have been given this opportunity to have a national impact on the mental wellbeing and learning of PGR students and develop something new for the sector.”

Professor Kathryn Mitchell, Vice-Chancellor at the University of Derby,  said:-

“Recognising that only a third of students who experience problems with their mental health seek support, we have adopted a proactive, whole-institutional approach to improving the wellbeing of our students.

“This project extends our sector-leading work in developing a programme for in-classroom and online psychoeducation to be embedded into our academic programmes. This open-access element enables our strategy to support the development of better student wellbeing across the whole sector.”

Rosie Tressler, CEO of Student Minds, added:-

“Across the UK, there is growing focus on the need for strategic whole-university approaches to support student mental health. Undertaking PGR can be isolating at times and we know there is an important gap to fill in helping more students thrive when undertaking a PhD.

“We’re pleased to be working with the University of Derby and Kings College London to develop accessible multi-media resources that will not only be of benefit to PGR students at these institutions, but will be made freely available to the wider university sector to support positive cultural change across the UK.”

Dr Nicola Byrom, Kings College London’s project lead, added:-

“This collaboration will enable the project to draw on the strong history of clinical research at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neurosciences. This project is the next step in a line of work at Kings College London aimed at enhancing support for positive wellbeing. I will lead on the evaluation of the new site, helping to ensure that it site develops from a strong evidence base.”

Chesterfield College has partnered with Derbyshire Times to find Derbyshire’s Young Artist of the Year for 2018.

They launched a competition last week and are asking budding young artists aged 9 to 18 (in school year 4 to year 13) to create a piece of artwork across a range of categories on the theme of ‘What’s most important to me’.

Entries will be exhibited as part of the annual Chesterfield College Arts Festival, taking place in June. The winners will be announced at a special event on 7 June when the Young Artists exhibition will be opened officially. The talented youngsters will be amongst the first people to see their work on display before the exhibition is opened to the public.

Prizes of creative materials will be awarded to the winners and an opportunity for the older age categories to work with one of the resident artists in West Studios giving them an insight into developing their passion for art into a business.

Hannah Bowdler from Chesterfield College’s West Studios, urged all young artists to create a piece of artwork across any of the three categories of photography, visual art and 3D art before the closing date of 1 June. She said:-

“We are really excited to see what young people will create this year. It will be wonderful to exhibit photographs, paintings, illustrations, collages and sculptures from school pupils’ across the county here at West Studios.

“The competition is a fantastic opportunity for young artists to showcase their creative skills and to experience what it feels like to have their artwork displayed as part of a wider exhibition which celebrates the creative achievements of up and coming artists.”

To find out more about the competition categories and how to enter visit www.chesterfield.ac.uk/artsfestival

Ashgate Hospicecare is thrilled to announce that they have added their name to a charter aimed at protecting employees who become terminally ill.

The Chesterfield based hospice is the latest employer to sign up to the Dying to Work Voluntary Charter, following in the footsteps of employers such as Rolls Royce, Royal Mail and the Co-op.

The Charter is part of the TUC’s wider Dying to Work campaign which is seeking to provide greater security for terminally ill workers, ensuring that they are not dismissed due to their condition.

Lee Barron, Regional Secretary of TUC Midlands, said:-

“Your job should be the least of your worries when you get a terminal diagnosis.

“I’m delighted that Ashgate Hospicecare have shown real leadership in this area, working with unions to guarantee fair treatment for terminally-ill workers.

“More than 600,000 workers are now covered by the Dying to Work charter across the country, and we expect more employers to commit in the coming months.”

Dying to Work was taken forward by the TUC following the case of Jacci Woodcook, an area sales manager from Derbyshire who was forced out of her job three years ago after being diagnosed with terminal breast cancer.

The TUC is asking employers to sign up to its voluntary charter to stop cases like Jacci’s happening in the future.

By signing the Dying To Work charter, employers are agreeing that they will give due consideration to terminally ill employees and protect their jobs. The campaign is so important to those who are living with a terminal illness and it is essential they have meaning to their lives rather than be defined by the disease which is killing them.

Matt Corbishley, Director of HR and Support Services at Ashgate Hospicecare, said:-

“I am delighted that we have signed up to the Dying to Work charter. As a provider of hospice care, we are all too aware of the impact a terminal diagnosis has on people’s lives. I am committed to ensuring that we demonstrate the same support, compassion and dignity to our staff, as we do the patients and families we care for.

“Signing the charter is a simple but important step for employers to take in preventing additional emotional and financial stress due to worries over job security. I would strongly urge all employers, particularly our corporate supporters, to join us.”

Sarah Parnacott, Consultant in Palliative Medicine at Ashgate Hospicecare, said:-

“We know that 1 in 3 people will be diagnosed with cancer and 1 in 10 under the age of 50 will be diagnosed with cancer. Thankfully many people will be cured.

“However, for those who are not cured and are facing living with a terminal diagnosis that may extend to months or sometimes years, being able to continue safe and reasonable work is vital. It can maintain dignity, be therapeutic, a distraction from their illness and ensure individuals feel valued and offered financial security with access to benefits such as death in service payments.

“I am thrilled that as a hospice we will be signing this charter. I hope that many of our corporate partners will also commit their businesses to signing.”