This year, JCI Barnsley will be working with four local charities, one per quarter of the year. For the first part of the year, we aimed to help Shelterbox by raising enough money to supply one complete box to their cause which we did. This box will join many others that will be used to help families that are in need of shelter and supplies in the aftermath of a disaster.

As we move in to the second quarter of the year, I want to introduce you all to the second of our four charities, Barnsley Hospital Charity. Barnsley Hospital Charity fundraises to provide the best care and treatment possible right here in Barnsley. They do this by funding projects that go above and beyond. Every bit of support makes a positive difference in the quality of care Barnsley Hospital can provide. The charity funds:

· Cutting edge facilities and an improved environment
· State of the art equipment that can make a real difference to patient care
· Opportunities for staff training in specialist areas
· Opportunities to further medical knowledge through research

Over the last few years, they have raised £1.4m for new equipment, over £600k for patient care, £78k for staff welfare and over £390k for medical research. The Barnsley Hospital Charity Team consists of just two people, Katie & Janice.


Katie, Janice & Cheerio The Charities Mascot

Although we will be fundraising for the charity, JCI Barnsley's main focus will be on supporting them with extra pairs of hands at events and running appeals to help collect supplies for them, the first one of these is the Easter Egg Appeal we're running at the moment.

We're also helping out at one of their key events this year, the Barnsley Rainbow Run on the 18th May. We'll be manning one of the paint stations so if you can make it along, it should be a great day. The promo video for the event is below and is worth a watch.

To find out more about the work the Barnsley Hospital Charity do, click here to read more.



Ben Hawley
JCI Barnsley President 2014