Corporate
Macmillan Cancer Support turns 100 years old in 2011 and is launching a Norfolk Business Challenge to celebrate its birthday year with a bang.
The charity has been improving the lives of people affected by cancer for over a century and is calling on 100 local businesses to each raise £1,000 next year to help them continue the support they provide. There are many ways for companies to get involved – whether by staff holding or taking part in events, by encouraging support from customers or by making a donation. Their local fundraising team will provide a special fundraising pack to help companies on their way and be offering support and encouragement throughout the year.
In 1911 Douglas Macmillan watched his father die of cancer and moved by the pain and suffering he saw, he started what was to become Macmillan Cancer Support. 100 years on, his belief that free information should be provided to people with cancer and nurses should attend to patients in their own home remains very much alive.
Every fortnight, 169 people in Norfolk will be told they have cancer, adding to the two million people across the UK currently living with the disease. As treatments improve, more and more people are living with cancer in their daily lives meaning the work of Macmillan is needed more than ever. Thanks to the generosity of the public over 50 Macmillan nurses, doctors, dieticians and occupational therapists have already been funded across Norfolk. They help make life easer through medical, emotional, financial and practical support but there is still lots to do.
Whether you work for a small company of five, a large company of several hundred or you’re a self employed free-lancer, taking part in The Norfolk Business Challenge 2011 is an achievable target and something Macmillan wants to celebrate with you! They plan to thank every business that takes part through the local media, a listing on their website and an invitation to an end of year celebration to congratulate everyone on their fantastic achievement.
Helen Chapman, Macmillan Fundraising Manager for Norwich and central Norfolk says “‘I’m so excited about this challenge. Some fantastic companies have signed up already and in the local fundraising office, we’re ready with help, ideas and merchandise to support all the businesses that take part throughout 2011.
There are real business benefits to be gained from signing up. Whether companies are looking to engage with their local community, team build, gain publicity or just have fun, fundraising for Macmillan can help achieve all these goals. And you’ll also be making a real difference to the lives of people affected by cancer”.
If you think your company would be interested in taking part in the Norfolk Business Challenge 2011, or you’d like more information about ways to get involved with Macmillan and the services they offer in your region, please get in touch with Helen at the Norfolk Fundraising Office (www.macmillan.org.uk/norfolk) on 01603 724 360 or email the team at norfolk@macmillan.org.uk alternatively, you can download the information leaflet here.
Q: Why £1,000?
£1,000 could pay for…
£1,000 - a Macmillan nurse for a week (including all costs), helping people living with cancer and their families receive essential advice and support.
£1,000 - at least six Macmillan grants that cover the cost of a person’s travel to hospital for treatment.
£1,000 – Two thousand copies of our Understanding chemotherapy booklet.
Think you can do more?
£2,000 – could pay for a Macmillan dietician for over two weeks. They give dietary and nutritional advice and care to people with cancer.
£5,000 – this amount spent on a Macmillan face-to-face benefits adviser enables them to help people affected by cancer claim £60,000 in benefits they are entitled to.
£10,000 – could operate our phone service for a day. In this time, our cancer support specialists could answer 372 calls from people who want questions answered, need practical or financial support, or just want to chat.
Stower Grange outside at night.
Christmas is coming… sorry, but it’s a fact folks. And if you’re planning to treat the office, or maybe your Family to a festive lunch with all the trimmings, then there are a few excellent venues across Norfolk to choose from. One is Stower Grange Hotel in Drayton, just on the outskirts of Norwich. Recently, a group of four of us had the tasty opportunity to sample this years seasonal menus, as well as the renowned hospitality we’d heard so much about.
Arriving at Stower Grange after dark, it bears all the hallmarks of an out-of-the-way country house hotel. Bright, but not overbearing illumination highlights the leaf-covered exterior, which, with its tall sash windows looks like a Georgian manor house from a classic novel.
As we approached the front door we are warmly greeted by House Manager Richard Baker before being shown to the lounge. Our coats and a drinks order are taken. Richard is confident and very helpful when it comes to the wine list, recommending a white he’s sure we’ll like.
The lounge has a traditional, comfortable feel, styled to match the country-house setting of the hotel. It evokes the image of an exclusive members club – relaxed and intimate yet of utmost quality. The waiting staff moves in and out without being overbearing and are very friendly and helpful at all opportunities.
We are shown to our table in the dining room, a beautifully set affair with sparkling glassware and silverware, white table linen and fresh roses. Like the lounge, the room has an authentic air of elegance about it.
Starters are brought promptly and are all beautifully presented. Our party has chosen from a mix of the New Years Eve menu, the Vegetarian menu (myself) and the December A la Carte Menu. Starters are Butternut Squash Soup with Goats Cheese Crouts, Warm salad of grilled Halloumi with cherry Tomatoes, Green Beans, Spinach, Pine Nuts and Rocket Pesto, Fillet of Smoked Mackerel and Coriander and Ginger Marinated Chicken with Curried Lentils and Minted Yoghurt. Universal consensus is that all the starters are delicious. Apparently the ‘very fresh’ micro-greens and pea-tips that accompanied the Smoked Mackerel set a wonderful dish off perfectly. My Partner, who had the Chicken, remarked that it was wonderfully tender with a refreshing tangy flavour from the curry and mint.
For the main course, which is, once again, delightfully presented when it arrives, we chose Puy Lentil & Red Pepper Nut Roast with Roasted Sweet Potatoes & Sun-Blushed Tomato Sauce, Norfolk Fillet of Beef with Bubble & Squeak Potato Cake, Green Beans, Pancetta Crisp & Shiraz Jus and Turkey Breast stuffed with Cranberries wrapped in Parma Ham, served with Confit Potatoes & Pan Jus.
The whole party enjoyed the mains very much (though the starters were very hard to beat!). I thought my Nut Roast was one of the best veggie main courses I’d ever tried. Not your usual Nut Roast, this one was fine-milled and dense – but not heavy, providing a rare, smooth texture for such a dish. Everything was cooked to perfection and the combination of flavours in each dish seemed to work marvellously.
For desert, we had Vanilla & Raspberry Crème Brulee, Mulled Wine Poached Pear with Grand Marnier Ice Cream and Grand Marnier Crème Brulee. Once again, my choice, the Vanilla & Raspberry Crème Brulee, was utterly delicious, and certainly one of the best Crème Brulees I’ve ever tasted. The layer of raspberries on the base was simply scrumptious. As you expect from a boozy pudding, the Grand Marnier Crème Brulee was fairly potent (well, it is for Christmas, after all), while the Grand Marnier Ice Cream suited the Mulled Wine Pear brilliantly.
One particularly nice aspect was that, while easily ample and very delicious, none of the courses was so large that they were too much. “A well balanced meal” my friend articulately commented “so you can enjoy all the flavours of each course”.
After desert all bar the driver enjoyed a brandy before adjourning to the lounge again for coffee and petit fours. How wonderfully civilised.
As we finished what had been an extraordinary meal, Head Chef Lee Parrette (previously of Barnham Broom Hotel and The Kings Head at Bawburgh) popped in to chat with us about the menus. Clearly passionate and proud of being a part of Stower Grange, he told us that take-up for Christmas has already been excellent, with many people returning year after year. After sampling the Stower Grange experience firsthand, it’s not hard to see why.
In all, the evening was perfect in pretty much every way. Stower Grange is a fantastic experience in a fantastic location, equally suited to a warm family get-together at Christmas (or on Sunday – they do a great Sunday lunch), as it would be to a special dinner for two. It would also be an auspicious venue to entertain business clients. The faultless customer service is of a quality that is rare in most modern establishments, making you feel at home and special at the same time. This alone would be enough to make me return to Stower Grange again. The fact that the dining experience is excellent really is the icing on the cake.
Festive fizz at Stower Grange.
Stower Grange Hotel
School Road, Drayton, Norwich, NR8 6EF
Tel: 01603 860210
Polycomical Studios is a Norwich group dedicated to the promotion of young and emerging artists.
Reynard City, a comic-book style cartoon about a group of superhero foxes that come to Earth to stop Mega Fox and his robot army taking over the city, is to be their first title to be released online.
Superhero Foxes from Reynard City.
Run by Rob Turner, from Beccles, the Polycomical Group also includes Dan Butcher as Head of Comic Artwork and Ana Brooke performing animation.
Inspired by the cartoons we grew up with (most of us have had the conversation that begins “Do you remember…?”), albeit a slightly more surreal style, the concept of Reynard City and its characters (Wondervixen, AK Girl, Hyper Rob, to name a few) have existed in Rob’s head for as long as he can remember. Over the past 4-5 years, with the inception of Polycomical, other people have become involved, giving ‘life’ to the project in terms of characters and voices.
As well as the webcomic, Polycomical are working on a cartoon pilot in conjunction with local production company Nudge Productions. In a few years time, Rob’s aim is to make Reynard City a fully-fledged cartoon series.
In the past, Rob has funded the project himself. Whist working on a gangster film called ‘Stagger’, Rob met most of the people who now supply the voice for Reynard City, as well as Nudge Productions’ Linda Hook, who he says has been crucial in pulling together a full cast.
Now, Polycomical is looking for local businesses who can help propel them to the next stage by offering Sponsorship Packages at a cost of £25.
Robs says “Our £25 sponsorship packages offer a low cost way of promoting your business and will help us repay the efforts of our hardworking team. The Sponsorship Packages will also afford a link on our website and an advert on our promotional material, among other things”.
“We are also looking for people to help sell the sponsorship packages. Anyone who works with us will get a share in our profits and we will always offer references and assistance to people who help us. It’s a really fun project to be involved with”, he adds.
It certainly sounds like Polycomical and Reynard City might have an exciting and interesting future. Providing caramel inflation, disgruntled ex-caterers, a flamboyant Mexican stalker and some dark secrets don’t spoil things of course…
Mega Fox from Reynard City.
You can see the comic, find out more about the cartoon pilot and try out the personality test at www.reynardcity.co.uk. If you have any questions, you can get in touch at will2000uk@yahoo.com
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