ROCC Blogs - Corporate Social Responsibility

ROCC Raise Money for NSPCC
Written by Luke Aldrich

05/04/2012

Staff at ROCC have embarked on a plan to raise £1600 for the NSPCC Childline Charity. £1600 is the amount it costs to recruit and train a Childline counsellor who could go on to answer 200 cries for help each year from young people. We have a couple of staff members who are going to drive it and plan it and we have some great fundraising ideas; such as Cake Sales, bring your own Fruit from your garden and sell it for donations and even a Raffle for a day off !

For more information see www.nspcc.org.uk

Ardingly Adventures
Written by Luke Aldrich

04/04/2012

Facilities Manager Alan Gould helped out with our Albion in The Community (AITC) Charity initiative on the 3rd April. At the scenic Ardingly College Alan helped 30 youngsters from various Housing Schemes in the Sussex area and a team of coaches with a series of games and activities including plenty of football and orienteering around the 250 acre grounds.

The Ardingly residential is designed to give deserving youngsters a break from their often challenging daily lives and promote and encourage positive interactions with other youngsters and adults. This has proven to have a great influence on many of the attendees as it promotes the benefits, through sport, of such important qualities as team working, target setting and a positive attitude.

Cup Final Statistics
Written by Luke Aldrich

16/11/2011

Update from The CUPFINAL Project team at Albion in the Community. What an amazing achievement ... Read On

ROCC Cooking at Connecting Communities Tournament
Written by Luke Aldrich

02/11/2011

ROCC in the guise of Facilities Manager, Alan Gould were recently supporting Albion In The Community (AITC).

See below for a report from the day from Martin Schooley from AITC.

‘The u19 11 aside tournament was the culmination of the Connecting Communities project, which aimed to create cultural understanding between cultures and estates in Brighton. Matches were 30 minutes each. Apart from Halal food - Expertly cooked by Alan (Rocc) and Sarah from the Iranian society, Silicon Wristbands, Kick racism out of Football badges, and T-Shirts were given out to participants. The tournament was attended by West Ham and Southampton community schemes. Over 80 young people attended, and the two Brighton teams (Goonies and Mandem) were managed by Ex Brighton captains Danny Cullip and Guy Butters. Ex Brighton Youth Player Connor Wilkins made a surprise appearance for Pathways. Friendly spirit was maintained throughout.

Pathways' team is made up of Iranian and Iraqi refugees living in Brighton. Southampton and Pathways won trophies for best spirit and fair play awards.’

Invited to Join the NSPCC Business Board
Written by Luke Aldrich

10/10/2011

I am really excited to have been invited to join the NSPCC Brighton Business Board. We are tasked with raising the profile (and money) for the NSPCC in the area. I see how it dovetails with our work with The Albion in The Community’s CUPFINAL Project as providing a safety net for vulnerable children.

One thing I didn’t realise was that CHILDLINE is now a part of the NSPCC. And wouldn’t you know it is coming up to 25 years. I remember Esther Rantzen launching it which has made me feel a little venerable. There are a considerable number of calls made by children from the Brighton area proving what a service this provides to local communities and the children within them.

I’ll keep you informed of progress.

Supporting St Catherine's
Written by Luke Aldrich

23/09/2011

On Sunday September 1st, ROCC’s Head of Service Peter Luck took to the hills for the annual St Catherine’s Hospice fundraising walk. A group of 290 participants walked a 13 mile circuit around the Sussex countryside.

More than £9,500 was raised on the day with Peter’s team contributing almost 15% of the total by managing to raise over £1,300. Peter and the rest of the team were walking in memory of a family member who had recently passed away and had been looked after by the hospice.

He said “We wanted to take part in some form of event to support St Catherine’s and the walk was an ideal opportunity for us to do so. We’ll be back again next year and hoping to raise more.”

Kickz Cricket Match 6th June 2011
Written by Luke Aldrich

08/07/2011

Held on the 6th June. ROCC participated in the showcase event for the Albion in The Community Kickz project. The softball game played on a slightly soggy County Ground outfield was played between young people involved and benefitting from the projects, Police Officers and Community representatives. I am pleased to report the match was played in good spirit and was an enjoyable day for all. It gave the AITC team an opportunity to present their great community plans to a wide audience including local politicians and local businesses.

For more information on the Kickz Project google it!

ROCC at Ardingly Residential with Albion in the Community
Written by Luke Aldrich

23/05/2011

On the 13th and 14th April ROCC assisted with the Albion in The Community Ardingly College Residential course for young people in the Sussex and Surrey area.

The Residential Course is designed to give a positive football experience to young people in sometimes disadvantaged or difficult personal circumstances in one the Country’s top class college facilities.

The course allows players access to coaching sessions that will improve levels of individual skill, techniques, pace of play, quality of play, awareness and understanding. As in the case of all courses run, the emphasis is put on improving individual elements through specific training, whilst creating an enjoyable and educational atmosphere at the same time.

ROCC staff Ronni Patel and Matt Watts were in charge of preparing a film of the event for use in promoting the AITC charity.

Ronni commented, “To see such a project in full motion and to witness first-hand the inspiration, freedom and confidence it gave all the kids, was a great measure of how important working alongside our communities can be”

More info on AITC can be found on the Brighton FC website or on AITC facebook page.

Marathon Efforts
Written by Luke Aldrich

23/05/2011

ROCC project manager Benny Coxhill has over the years raised a significant amount of money for various charities. 2011 saw Benny take part in his 7th and 8th marathons. Read Benny's full account here.

ROCC Sponsor Achieve Lifestyle Community Day
Written by Luke Aldrich

13/05/2011

ROCC are helping sponsor a Community Charity Day for our new customers at Achieve Lifestyle in Runnymede. The day held in Egham, Surrey on the 22nd May I’m sure will be a great success and herald the start of the new Trust that has been recently formed and is run by the former facilities team to manage both the Addlestone and Egham Leisure centres.

Much fun promised for young and old alike on the day.

Newport City Council - Extra Mile Awards
Written by Luke Aldrich

14/03/2011

ROCC were delighted to sponsor and attend Newport City Council’s ‘Extra Mile Awards’ 2011. Held at the City’s Hilton Hotel nominations came from the public as to people and organisations in the Newport area that had gone the ‘extra mile’ and from council workers who had gone beyond the call of duty in their work. Many inspirational stories came to light.

The awards were attended by around 200 people including the Leader and Major of the Council

Full list of the award winners can be found at Newport City Council's Website.

ROCC Customer's Furry Fundraiser
Written by Luke Aldrich

06/12/2010

ROCC customer Pete Smith, Head of Procurement for Nottingham City Homes raised over £3,500 for charity by growing a monster moustache as part of the national Movember campaign. Well done Pete. The impressive example can be seen here: Pete Smith - NCH Mo.

ROCC v Albion In The Community Kickz Cricket 11
Written by Luke Aldrich

02/08/2010

As we put ourselves through our strenuous warm up routine of standing and walking we noticed the rather more youthful opposition moving assertively towards us.

The team assembled from both Whitehawk and Afghanistan kickz project had recently taken up cricket and the ROCC team quietly pessimistic about its 100 per cent loss record.

But ROCC has been busy in the transfer market targeting talent in Rai our recently installed project manager and youth in Tim Coxhill of teenage years and Ben and Finn not yet in double figures.

Rai proved his worth by taking 3 wickets in his first over and Ben bowling rather like Dennis Lillee took 2 wickets in his first 2 balls and Finn bowling like Murali took 2 wickets including a dynamite stumping from Michael Roblin. It did make us wonder what we had been doing these previous fruitless summers.

Aitc Darren Teague rolled back the years with a couple of overs and solid bowling from Tim, Simon, Ronnie, Michael, John Turner all chipped in.

The performance would have been better had we not dropped 9 catches.

Outstanding batsmen were Joe Patterson with 27, John Aldridge 10 and Jake Rudwell 18 set up a target of 105

In reply Ronni the axeman chopped his way to 23. Benny mistook it for a test match just when we were considering sending orders to run him out he did the decent thing and missed a straight one.

Rai(39) then started withan almighty 6 and really warmed to his task when Martin Schooley aitc team leader announced himself with a repertoire of full bungers delivered with a perfect action. A brief cameo from rocc legend Aan Gould was replaced by Luke scoring a quick 27 . Simon 'the wall' Wallington batted solidly and the final runs were bashed by Finn with a quickfire 20. Tim Coxhill managed to be out whilst being filmed by his dad who proudly replayed to him his dismissal in all its glory.

Some nifty bowling from Nathan, Jordan Burstow, Rhys and Mahudud and some good fielding from everyone including Hayley and Finn kept the game close.

That our team was So improved by 2 9 year olds is something we shouldn't dwell on.

The kickz team were a great bunch and we look forward to losing to them next year.

Watch the highlights of ROCC v Albion In The Community Kickz Cricket 11 on YouTube