Pictured: Dancer Dannii Bayley and mother Angela, of
Pertemps People Development Group, are joined by Craig Burchell of
the Teenage Cancer Trust
A kind-hearted 10-year-old has danced her way around Birmingham
to help teenagers fighting cancer.
Dannii Bayley, of Cotteridge, was so touched when she heard
about the work of the Teenage Cancer Trust's unit at the city's
Royal Orthopaedic Hospital that she vowed to raise £500 for
the cause.
She discovered the charity when mother Angela first encouraged
her employers - employment experts Pertemps People Development
Group (PPDG) - to make a donation when the hospital unit was
burgled and games equipment stolen.
Dannii, a pupil at Cotteridge Junior and Infant School, decided
to use her love of dance and performing as a way of gaining
support. She visited seven PPDG centres across Birmingham -
Sparkhill, Nechells, Newtown, Handsworth, Harborne, Northfield, and
the Edgbaston HQ - and performed a dance for employees to the Same
Difference track 'If You Can't Dance'. They supported her
generously, raising £202 for the charity.
Proud mum Angela, an employment coach at PPDG in Northfield,
said: "Dannii was prompted to act after I nominated the charity for
a donation from Pertemps People Development Group. I heard that the
unit had been broken into before its grand opening and went along
to present a cheque from PPDG. I was inspired by the work they do
and spoke about it a lot at home with Dannii and her dad.
"Dannii was captivated by the charity and said she really wanted
to do something to help. Over the months she has come up with all
sorts of crazy ideas. She attends a stage school at the Hippodrome
and loves to perform and decided to get her friends and family to
sponsor her to visit as many PPDG sites as she could in one day to
perform a dance for our staff. She also got friends and family to
bake cakes and biscuits which she sold along with raffle tickets on
the day."
She added: "I am incredibly proud of Dannii. She has always been
a very thoughtful girl who always thinks of others and gets
genuinely touched by charities that help those less fortunate. Her
original goal was to raise £500 in five events. However, she
has already raised £202 at the PPDG centres and a further
£60 from family and friends. I'm confident she will complete
the five events and we'll see if she can raise even more than the
£500 she was hoping to collect."
Craig Burchell, regional fundraiser for TCT, said: "It is always
nice to hear of young people helping other young people less
fortunate than themselves and Dannii's fundraising endeavours will
help support Teenage Cancer Trust and its work with teenagers and
young adults affected by cancer across the West Midlands region. We
would like to take this opportunity to thank Dannii, Angela and
everyone at Pertemps People Development Group for their efforts and
continued support - it really does make a huge difference."
PPDG's team of employment experts provides 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 the Work Programme which is part financed by
the European Social Fund (ESF). PPDG came fourth in The Sunday
Times Best Companies to Work For 2011.
For more information about Pertemps People Development Group,
please visit their website here: www.ppdg.co.uk