Yesterday saw our charity 5-a-side football day to raise money for Noah’s Fund. We were blessed with some fantastic weather, blue skies and a large orange ball in the sky shining down on Portsmouth FC’s Fratton Park ground!

The atmosphere was friendly as the teams arrived and changed – but there was clearly a competitive edge in the air!

We had 12 teams and the competition began with two leagues of 6 – the top 4 in each would be going forward to a knock out phase, with the remaining 4 playing for the Jobsite Plate. Joining Evenbase teams from Jobsite, Jobrapido and Broadbean were Matchtech, Picture More, SpectrumIT, Manpower, Jobs Today, Gerrell & Hard, Gold Group and Eligo Recruitment.

The early group games were keenly fought, in fact after two games each only 3 teams had a 100% record – Matchtech, Picture More and Gerrell & Hard…maybe a sign of things to come?

There were no shortage of tackles and resolute defending…though some teams had clearly not yet got their shooting boots on…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

#Jobsite5aside Shooting boots left at home? #GoldGroup v @jobsiteuk B goo.gl/KGKQq

— Jobsite UK (@JobsiteUK) May 2, 2013

  There were some low scoring games as the goalies were on top…

  …but the next tense clash was never far away!

Once the leagues were finished it was time to work out the league positions, whilst the hard worked footballers enjoyed pizza for lunch!

The holders, Matchtech, proved imperious in the early stages winning all 5 games, with a total aggregate of 13-1. The second best record was held by first time entrants Gerrell & Hard, with 3 wins 2 draws and 0 goals conceded! Jobs Today and Picture More were the other teams with a strong opening phase. The four teams with the lowest points totals – Broadbean, Manpower, Jobsite A and Gold Group – had proved enthusiastic competitors and went on to contest the Plate.

The quarter finals provided contrasting games, with Gerrell & Hard and Jobs Today both winning comfortably against Jobrapido and SpectrumIT respectively, whilst the other teams making it through to the last four – Matchtech and Picture More – had much closer encounters with Jobsite B and Eligo Recruitment.

In the semi-finals we had our first shock, with the current holders (and winners of the last two Jobsite 5-a-side competitions) Matchtech finally succumbing to Picture More in a penalty shoot-out. The other finalists were to be Gerrell & Hard, who squeezed past Jobs Today 1-0.

Meanwhile in the Plate, there was a tense final between JobsiteA and Gold Group. Our very own Nigel Wyman had kept Jobsite in the competition during the semi-final…

#Jobsite5aside @jobsiteuk kept in the competition by goalkeeper @nigel_wyman goo.gl/s8NlS

— Jobsite UK (@JobsiteUK) May 2, 2013

 

 

…and the final went to penalties…

 

…with Gold Group eventually winning 5-4 after misses on both sides!

 

The Jobsite Trophy final ended up a more one-sided affair, with Gerrell & Hard running out 4-0 winners against Picture More, who battled valiantly until the end…

#Jobsite5aside and that’s the third! 3-0 to @gerrellandhard vine.co/v/bQe0izwwYvV

— Jobsite UK (@JobsiteUK) May 2, 2013

 

 

And so in the day’s final action, it was left to Portsmouth FC’s manager Guy Whittingham to present the victorious Gerrell & Hard team with the trophy!

 

Here is Guy Whittingham presenting the Plate to Gold Group

 

A brilliant day in the sun, with over £1,200 raised for a worthy charity, and it was all smiles and handshakes at the end…with teams already pledging to come back and do battle for the trophy next year! As you can see, it’s already found a home in Gerrell & Hard’s offices…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks to all who made it such a special day, and a very big thank you to our brilliant photographer James White for the excellent action shots you can see above.

 

A recent survey and report from global recruitment firm Robert Half on ‘How to Attract and Retain Gen Y Employees’ showed that amongst the most important things they look for in a potential employer was a company’s charitable and philanthropic efforts. As one respondent quoted in the report said ‘The companies that stand out most are those that provide for their employees and community just as much as they provide for their customers’.

There were similar findings from research by Walden University in Baltimore which found that Gen Y is supportive of social causes, with 81% donating money, goods or services on an annual basis to such causes. A company with a strong social responsibility makes for an attractive proposition.

Many businesses support of a range of charities, which often instils a similar sense of responsibility in their employees. We have heard of a range of initiatives from creative fundraising to allowing each member of staff ‘charity days’ when they are able to take paid time off work to support a local charity, all helping to create an engaged workforce.

However some companies go much further than fundraising and offering supporting for charities and none more so than niche recruitment business McCarthy Recruitment, who recently won the Best Recruitment Agency to Work For at the 2012 Recruiter Awards. Continue reading “What Charitable Efforts Are You Making?” »

Here’s my final update of the last 3 days of my trip to South Africa for Beyond Blue.

Wednesday

Drove to a project run by Amandla in the city centre. This project is run for orphan and trouble boys and the football aspect is a side show to the school that has been training troubled young men in Cape Town for over 100 years.

I also visited a girls home for young ladies who have been mistreated or are orphans. This project really has helped improve the life of these girls who really enjoy getting involved in some sport.

Thursday

Today I get taken back to Mitchells Plain to work with 2 volunteers who work as PE Teachers at Westville Primary school at the school sports day. Lots of colour, vibrance and of course noise! Vuvuzelas and screaming children and parents alike as the children took part in Potato and spoon, bucket and bean bag and hurdles. I presented the winning team with their trophy.

Following this I took some football coaching and awarded 2 pairs of goalie gloves to the best goalkeepers that I trained. The kids were so keen and it was heartening to see them have so much energy and desire to win. I then took a penalty shoot-out competition, the winning boy getting a few Pompey prizes. I then put the girls through their paces with some 3 touch football.

And so my last day of being involved with the coaching was done… exhausting but very, very rewarding! Continue reading “Roundup of BeyondBlue in SA” »

Today was my first chance to really get involved with the work here and get my hands dirty as we drove out to an area called Mitchell’s Plain. Around 1 million people live there and areas like these are like the “Chatsworth Estates” of the UK. Crime is fairly high but not as bad as Grassy Field where I spent yesterday that had seen shootings.

On my arrival at Hazeldene Primary School. I met the lovely Lindsay and Olly. Lindsay will be heavily involved in the Beyond Blue group’s movements as she will be coordinating it. As soon as I entered the main courtyard I was swamped by children. Literally hundreds of kids ran towards me and at one moment I thought I was going to fall over as I couldn’t move. It was evident they were happy to see a new person at the school and Lindsay said that this was a bit more than they are used to on a daily basis.

About 300 hugs later we managed to make it to the PT area, a concrete rectangle no bigger than a basketball court amongst a dusty field. Here we would take 30 minute sessions with a range of ages. We did some simple passing for soccer and then a little cricket. It was very hard work and pretty tiring trying to keep all of the kids focused on what they were doing.

Continue reading “Beyond Blue – Sport, Schools and SPF Factor” »

Today was the first day I got to see some of the work that the team here in Cape Town does. Base camp for the young people currently working here with the local communities is a large house on the site of an orphanage in an area called Rondebosch. This is where the group from Beyond Blue will be residing. I was shadowing 4 young lads from the UK, Jamie, Esse, Dave and Tom. The lads came from mixed backgrounds, brought together independently in their desire to come and work in Africa.

Driving through the outskirts of Cape Town we approached our destination of the Oasis centre. This is where the Beyond Blue group will spend a good deal of their time working with guys called Cliff and Luke on a project putting together a National homeless football team to represent SA. This project is near 2 townships, one called Grassy Field and the other Hannover Park. Jamie took me to see the school in Hannover Park called Crystal High, an ironic name given that the main drug of choice in a township such as this is Crystal Meth. This drug causes a great deal of the crime in the area, the school had been given a new fence by the government which was stolen, something commonplace in Cape Town; sold for scrap this would provide for a good many people.

Continue reading “Beyond Blue – Day 2” »