POSITIVE BUSINESS
Business Against Poverty ' s member of the month: TBE
This August The Business Exchange( TBE) has been recognised as Business against Poverty’ s member of the month.
Business against Poverty( BaP) is a local community of business people who care about the issues of poverty and ethical standards. They are taking action through their charity People against Poverty, based in Trowbridge. TBE has been the charity’ s media partner and a platinum sponsor for over a year.
BaP founder Val Huxley met with TBE publisher Anita Jaynes to find out more about her business philosophy.
What motivates you?
Client satisfaction. I love nothing more than receiving a phone call from a client saying that they’ ve won new work from marketing their business with me. I want to be seen as a business leader who listens to her clients and provides a package that works for them. Sometimes people contact me about advertising opportunities and I know The Business Exchange isn’ t the right outlet for them. If I believe that’ s the case I tell them, by miss-selling you only do long term damage to the business. I’ m here for the long haul, not just a quick win that’ s not going to benefit anyone. It’ s all about building great relationships and a network of fantastic clients, suppliers and readers- this gives me a lift and drives me forwards.
What is your business philosophy?
I try and run a modern business, but with traditional oldfashioned values. Working with honesty and integrity is highly important to me. I ' d also like to think that corporate social responsibility( CSR) is at the heart of The Business Exchange. Having worked for charities in the past, TBE was designed from the beginning with an ethos for giving back.
TBE founder Anita Jaynes visited Romania in October 2015 and met many families supported by the charity.
Anita with the BaP Awareness Trip team, who visited Romania in October 2015
I try to do this in many ways from mentoring school and university students, to dedicating a full page to charity in each edition of TBE.
Who do you admire the most?
I don’ t tend to put anyone on a pedestal, some of the greatest people I know aren’ t famous and they certainly wouldn’ t want to be mentioned here. I admire anyone who has the ability to be utterly selfless and puts others before themselves, that’ s a real gift.
What would be your advice to anyone wondering if their business could benefit from joining Business against Poverty?
Business against Poverty( BaP) is an organisation built with love. A love for humankind and supporting each other in times of need at home and abroad. BaP provides individuals and their businesses an opportunity to come together and support one another, as well as others though their charity People against Poverty.
I’ m proud to be associated with the cause and the outstanding work that they do. I love the fact that everything is so transparent. You get to know the project leaders either through awareness trips hosted by the charity or via their AGMs, hearing first hand where donations are going. It’ s great to know that you’ re making a difference, even if it’ s a small one. If we all embraced the power of CSR poverty could become a thing of the past.
To find out more about becoming a member of Business against Poverty visit: www. businessagainstpoverty. com or call 01225 718920
CHARITY BALL- GET INVOLVED
Business against Poverty will be holding their annual ball on Saturday October 5 at Bailbrook House Hotel, near Bath.
This is a great opportunity to find out more about the charity and its work. Single tickets and tables are available.
Find out more here:
www. businessagainstpoverty. com / events / diamond-ball /
UNLOCKING THE LEADERSHIP POTENTIAL OF WILTSHIRE’ S YOUNG PEOPLE
Swindon based charity Inner Flame has teamed up with The Leadership Trust to design a leadership skills programme for 18-25 year olds. The challenging 5-day course aims to improve self-awareness skills, leadership and team working skills, as well as building value to current or potential employers.
The course is for:
• Employees who are in, or are being considered for team leader or management roles
• Graduates seeking employment, who wish to improve their prospects of graduate-level roles
• Undergraduates with some experience of working in teams and want to build their CV and skill set
• Volunteers who want to increase their impact in the organisation they support
• Aspiring entrepreneurs
The main focus of the course is‘ learning by doing’. Working in a small team, delegates will take on a series of short projects and challenges and through reviewing their performance as a team, they will learn about themselves, their leadership style and how they can work effectively in teams.
The cost of the first course running in September 2016 is £ 595. This is fully inclusive of board and accommodation from Monday-Friday. An equivalent course at The Leadership Trust costs over £ 2,900 + VAT.
To apply for a place on the programme or to find out more visit: www. innerflame-org. uk / leadership
8 THE BUSINESS EXCHANGE 2016