Pictured above: (l-r) Kirsty Dunbar and Jessica Green who raised money for Birmingham Dogs Home while taking part in a Pertemps People Development Group Foundation Learning course

If someone said they were going to travel around Birmingham on buses dressed in just their pyjamas, you might be forgiven for thinking they were barking mad.

But that's exactly what 17-year-old Solihull friends Kirsty Dunbar, from Smiths Wood, and Jessica Green, from Chelmsley Wood, did to raise funds for Birmingham Dogs Home.

The unemployed teenagers came up with the idea to go bananas in pyjamas while taking part in a Foundation Learning course, at the Pertemps People Development Group (PPDG) centre in Chelmsley Wood. They hope the course will increase their prospects of securing employment.

They are studying for a City & Guilds Employability and Personal Development qualification and decided to complete the community project unit. When they looked into what community meant to them they decided that animals played an important role and wanted to try to raise money to support the dogs home, said Katie Donnelly-Gartland, PPDG multi-functional trainer. They collected £82 from generous passengers and passers-by and PPDG topped up the donation to a total of £100. People also donated food, blankets and toys.

Katie said: "I'm really proud of the girls. They are working hard to try to gain employment by studying for further qualifications and felt that they wanted to do what they could to support an important organisation in the community. They came up with the idea and organised everything themselves. They staged a cake sale and then toured the area in just their pyjamas to raise money and managed to collect a significant sum."

Kirsty said: "I really love dogs and enjoyed organising the fundraiser to help a very good cause. I am so pleased that so many people were really generous and I'm grateful to everybody that donated on the day."

Jilly Rivers, fundraising co-ordinator at Birmingham Dogs Home, said: "We would like to say a great big thank you to the girls for taking part in this excellent fundraising event, and also to the generous public for their donations. The girls said that they wanted to do what they could to help the many dogs in our care, and we're very grateful for this donation. It is very important that people support us. Young people of today are our future and they can raise awareness and tell their friends at school or college about our charity and the vital role we play.

"We welcome donations of money and are also in need of food, treats, blankets, washing powder and other items that people may want to donate," she added. The dogs home, in New Bartholomew Street, Digbeth, currently has around 100 pets looking for good homes. 

PPDG delivers the Government's Welfare to Work strategy across the Midlands through Flexible New Deal, Work Focused Training and other employment initiatives. PPDG is using its vast experience of helping long-term unemployed people get back into work to help local jobseekers secure employment opportunities.

PPDG's team of employment experts provide advice on benefits, confidence building, one-to-one support, CV and interview preparation as well as finding the right job or training course. In partnership with DWP, the Ministry of Justice and Jobcentre Plus, PPDG delivers a diverse range of employment and training initiatives including Flexible New Deal, Working Neighbourhoods Fund, Learndirect and many ESF funded programmes. More than 100,000 job seekers have been helped into sustained employment by the company since the projects began.  It has trained 130,000 people in vocational skills, and over 175,000 people have benefitted from professional information, advice and guidance services.