Blazing Saddlebags – 15th October 2011

The Wild West Comes To Edgbaston For Biennial Ball

It's been four years since the last Property For Kids (PFK) ball, but this October it was firmly back in the saddle as figures from the property industry descended on Edgbaston County Cricket Ground for a wild west-themed evening.

The Blazing Saddlebags event, which will provide funds for Edwards Trust and contributes towards the £500,000 that has already been raised to help disadvantaged children in the West Midlands, was held in the newly opened exhibition hall. Eventologists, the event management company, worked with the PFK committee to transform the space into a fabulous saloon bar, complete with tequila shot girls, wagons and a bucking bronco.

Chris Read, chairman of PFK, said: "It was great to see so many people make a real effort with their wild west costumes and get into the spirit of the evening, which resulted in raising a fantastic amount of money for a worthy cause."

The Brendas 2011

This year's Brenda's was hailed as a resounding success with 365 people attending and raised over £20,000. All funds will be distributed to disadvantaged children across the West Midlands.

A big thank you goes out to all of those who attended the event, our table sponsors and those that sponsored the prestigious gnomes that were awarded to the winners of 'Birmingham Property's Got Talent. All our performers were extremely talented and the show was a success because of them. Maybe next year we should enter an act into the 'Britain's Got Talent'! Simon Cowell, will definitely have some stiff competition to judge!

The PFK Snowball 2010

Snowball starts avalanche of toys

Santa's sleigh could face excess baggage charges this year after hundreds of gifts were donated for disadvantaged children in the West Midlands when property professionals gathered for an annual property/construction related Christmas fundraising party.

Snowball 2010, staged in Birmingham by the Property for Kids charity, saw almost 500 guests bring hundreds of gift wrapped presents which will be distributed to nominated women's refuges and young children's homes across the region.

The annual event, held at The Jam House in Birmingham's Jewellery Quarter, also raised more than £3,000 for the charity.

Jilly Cosgrove, managing director of Barques design agency, is one of the Property for Kids committee members. She said: "What a fantastic night! On behalf of Property For Kids we would like to say an enormous thank you to everyone who battled through the winter weather to came along to the event.

"Yet again, it was a huge success. The presents are the most important element, but we also get donations and money from ticket sales so I'd like to say a big thank you for everyone's generosity. With a van full of over 350 presents, wrapped for a boy and girl, we have delivered gifts to several hostels and women's refuges in Birmingham, Solihull, Dudley, and Warwick, as well as the Birmingham and Solihull Women's Aid and Home Start family support.

"We hope that our efforts and the wonderful support Property for Kids enjoys, bring some happiness to those less fortunate than us this Christmas."

Guests were entertained by music from 2 bands in the industry, Hot Property and Hunni and the Wasps who kept everyone dancing all night, she added.

The BRENDAs 2010

The cream of the Birmingham property industry came together for The sixth annual Brenda Awards 2010 on Friday 28th May at the Burlington Hotel, raising an estimated £23,000. This has beaten our total from last year by a staggering £5,000 so we would like to say a huge thank you to all who attended for your generosity and support.

The theme for this year's ceremony was "I'm in property, get me out of here" which generated a fantastic response from the 350 guests who attended the ceremony, despite the questionable attempt at Geordie accents from comperes Ed Gamble (Jones Lang LaSalle) and Simon Robinson (GBR Property Consultants). As usual our interviewees excelled themselves and really entered into the spirit of this year's theme despite being asked to perform some rather gruesome tasks like the Bushtucker trials!

For more information please visit http://www.thebrendas.co.uk

View photos of the night here: Photo Gallery

Video below features Amanda Ormond from Barques Design & John Tebbutt from the Birmingham Properties Group as they take on the "Tent Challenge"

Tuesday the first of December saw the Property For Kids Snowball 09 held at The Jam House, and what a fantastic evening it was too.

On behalf of Property For Kids we would like to say a big thank you to everyone who came along, it was a huge success. Judging by the amount of people dancing we know you all enjoyed yourselves as much as we did! We raised a massive £650 on the night and £2500 from ticket sales so once again, a big thank you for your generosity. With a van full of over 350 presents miraculously split evenly between boys and girls, Pickfords will be delivering these gifts to a number of hostels and women’s refuges in Birmingham, Solihull, Dudley, Warwick, the NCH family centre and Home Start family support. We hope our efforts bring some happiness to those less fortunate than us this Christmas.

We also need to say a big thank you to our entertainers, Audio Jam and Hot Property, who performed brilliantly and kept us dancing all night!

Once again, thank you to everyone that supported us, for your generosity and for making it such a brilliant night, we look forward to seeing you again next year!

The BRENDAs 2009

For more information about the BRENDAs please visit www.thebrendas.co.uk.

The BRENDAs 2008

All the sponsors of the 2008 Brendas Awards and their guests raised a staggering £15,750 for our nominated charities this year - The Boys and Girls Union - Woodlands Camp and Orchestra of the Swan in conjunction with Welcombe Hills Schools. For more information about the BRENDAs please visit www.thebrendas.co.uk.

6th October, 2007
Arabian Nights Charity Ball

This was an evening full of eastern promise! The room was themed, with entertainment full of mystery and intrigue, culminating in a night of dancing to the Subterraneans. Take a look at the pictures here.