Category Archives: General PR

BXL Chief calls on West Midlands businesses to engage with young people to prevent future riots

Posted on by

BXL's John Ling

West Midlands businesses were today urged to step forward in order to help prevent young people getting involved in future riots.

The rallying cry was made by John Ling and comes after an approach to tackling the recent disorder stalled due to a lack of a clear vision on how to engage with local youths who are struggling with a lack of skills and unemployment.

The Chief Executive of the region’s education business partnership believes the answer lies in less consultation, reducing the number of brokers looking after their own interests and the development of a robust plan that companies can buy into and start delivering.

“We have all been extremely slow to react to the troubles we saw in the summer and I class Government, local councils, the third sector and business in this collective ‘we’,” explained John.

“A strategy for working with young people and business volunteering has not yet been sorted and, in the meantime, a few token ‘on the ground’ initiatives have yet to deliver real sustainable benefit.”

He continued: “Schools and the third sector aren’t going to hold the answer and the Government’s National Citizenship scheme will be just a drop in the ocean when you consider that this new programme supported just 10,000 nationally this year.

“That leaves the way forward in the hands of the business community in the West Midlands. And why not, after all they stand to gain the most tangible benefits from engaging with young people and providing access to positive role models?”

Ling said the need for a region-wide charter to be put in place is crucial and social media could be used to disseminate and secure buy-in from all parties.

In terms of hands-on support, he singled out the need to harness business knowledge, experience and resource to help young people develop skills, raise aspirations and provide greater employment opportunities.

Training more business volunteers and mentors and then matching them with schools is a good starting point and there is an urgent need to develop an efficient signposting service that offers a single gateway to all the advice and support.

“We don’t need to reinvent the wheel, funding simply won’t allow that,” added John.

“BXL already run www.youxl.co.uk, a website and resource base created to provide trusted and crucial information for young people. This is soon to be expanded to support businesses and educators online for volunteering and careers information.

“Education Partnership Centres, such as those seen at Jaguar Land Rover and Redcliffe Catering, also offer a great way of engaging with large numbers of young people. These onsite venues provide vocational learning and insight to more than 25,000 individuals a year and if we can get more employers on board this figure could quickly dwarf the Government’s own National Service.

“Let’s also look at giving young people the chance to shape their future by creating and facilitating groups where they can help influence future policy.”

BXL is currently working with the local council on creating a hub for all of this activity at Birmingham Wheels, where a major Birmingham-based construction business has already pledged to provide temporary buildings.

However, 18 month-old plans to turn it into an enterprise/employability zone focused on vehicles have been hit by internal arguments and political uncertainty.

John concluded: “The message is simple. The West Midlands needs to come together as one, provide the strategy and let business drive the support. Importantly, we need to do it now and not leave it till we are picking up the pieces again from the Riots of 2012 and beyond.”

For more information on BXL visit www.bxlworks.org or contact. You can also follow it on twitter @bxlservices

700,000 school children benefit from the MWW commitment to ‘fruit and veg’

Posted on by

Mark Driver of Minor Weir & Willis

One of Birmingham’s largest food businesses is playing a fundamental role in improving the health and diets of nearly 700,000 school children across the Midlands, London and the Home Counties.

Minor, Weir & Willis (MWW), which employs more than 240 people at its dedicated packaging and distribution facility in Perry Barr, has been a key driving force in the Department of Health’s English School Fruit and Vegetable scheme that gives a piece of fruit each day to all four to six year-old children in LEA maintained primary schools.

The firm, which started in 1963, has been involved with the project since it was first rolled out in the West Midlands in April 2002

Since then MWW has delivered more than 150 million bags of fresh produce to nearly 10,000 classrooms across the country, using its industry experience to deliver a number of innovations to the programme.

The scheme initially featured 4 products each week, but during the duration of the contract this range has been extended to include rocha pears, tomatoes, organic carrots and prepared fruit.

MWW has also worked closely with domestic farmers to grow sugar snap peas in England for the first time.

Sant Mehta, Managing Director of MWW, was delighted at how the contract has developed:

“The English Schools Fruit and Vegetables Scheme has really grown in popularity and proven to be an excellent way of getting young children to eat more quality fruit and vegetables and begin to understand about the importance of a healthy diet.

“We have worked closely with the Government, schools and teachers to continually evolve the way we supply the fruit and regular school surveys demonstrate high levels of satisfaction with reliability of delivery, quality and variety of fruit.”

He continued: “I am also pleased that we have been able to add the MWW stamp to the contract. Using our network of suppliers in the UK and overseas, we have successfully added more variety.

“This not only introduces children to a greater variety of non-traditional fruit and vegetables, but also helps in the education process as they learn which countries they are grown in and the journey from the field to the classroom.”

Minor, Weir & Willis has grown into one of the UK’s leading handlers of fresh produce, sourcing over 100 products from more than 40 countries, including an ever-expanding network of domestic growers.

UK sales are more than £100m per annum and the company also boasts significant operating sites in Holland and Spain with a pan-European customer base.

The English Schools Fruit and Vegetables scheme contract is run from 3 sites in Birmingham, Peterborough and Chesham.

In the Midlands alone, MWW delivers to over 2,000 schools and more than 300,000 key stage one pupils.

“Our involvement in the English Schools Fruit and Vegetable scheme has also had a major spin off benefit to regional companies in our supply chain, boosting existing relationships with growers and, furthermore, helping to create new partnerships with farmers looking at alternative revenue streams,” continued Sant.

He concluded:  “We are keen to work with the Department of Health and NHS Supply Chain on the future evolution of the initiative and believe our industry expertise and commitment to quality and fair supply will be essential in moving it forward.”

To celebrate its ten year involvement, Minor, Weir & Willis is planning a range of activities aimed at promoting healthy eating with children and recognising the strength of local and national produce growers.

This will start with the launch of a dedicated website (www.kidsfruit.org), which will give young children access to activities and educational games around the issue of healthy eating and fruit and vegetables.

For further information, please contact 0121 331 2704 or visit www.mww.co.uk

Hunt is on for the West Midlands’ Green Leaders

Posted on by

(l-r) Dr Simon Slater and George Marsh (both Sustainability West Midlands)

The search is on for this year’s eco pioneers following the launch of the ‘West Midlands Green Leaders’ competition today.

Sustainability West Midlands’ Dr Simon Slater is urging the area’s most influential people to step forward in a bid to address the leadership gap and promote the skills needed to drive the low carbon agenda.

The competition, which is only in its 2nd year, will look to promote and celebrate the achievements of some of the West Midlands’ leading policy makers, green entrepreneurs and environmental ambassadors from the public, business and voluntary sectors.

If successful, the ‘leaders’ will be invited to use this new platform to share and pass on their experiences and knowledge to the next generation of professionals, not to mention developing new solutions around Government initiatives like the Local Enterprise Partnerships.

They will join last year’s winners to form a growing influential peer group that is helping put the West Midlands on the global map for its expertise in low carbon vehicles, housing and community action.

“300 years ago men and women from the region started the industrial revolution; now is the time to highlight the people that are going to be responsible for driving the green revolution,” explained Simon.

“Put simply, who will be joining the statues of the heroes of our industrial past in 100 years time?

“Green Leaders is open to individuals from different sectors and stages of their careers with an emphasis on being able to demonstrate ‘green’ impact with additional social or economic benefit above their everyday role.”

Sustainability West Midlands is now seeking entries for the competition with the closing date of September 12th at 9am.

The Green leaders will be announced at the organisation’s annual conference, which this year will be themed ‘West Midlands priorities for a sustainable 2020; where next on our journey?’

All of the awards will be presented by international green campaigner Sara Parkin, OBE.

Simon concluded: “Low carbon is at the top of both the business and Government agendas and we are looking to ensure our region is at the forefront of best practice.

“The competition is a great way of promoting excellence in the West Midlands and will play an important role in developing the next generation of professionals and promoting the need for best practice and innovation.”

Sustainability West Midlands, the sustainability adviser for the leaders of the West Midlands, shares a vision where business and communities thrive in a region that is environmentally sustainable and socially just.

It is a private sector led, cross sector and not-for-profit organisation which acts as a catalyst for change through advice to leaders, developing practical solutions with members and sharing success through its communications and events programme.

This year the competition is being supported by the Prince’s May Day Network, Midlands Environmental Business Club, West Midlands Councils and the Low Carbon Communities Network.

To download the nomination form or register to attend the conference, visit www.sustainabilitywestmidlands.org.uk or contact 0121 237 5890 / enquiries@swm.org.uk