5th Best Elvis in the World

“We can’t choose our fate, but we can choose others. Be careful in knowing that.” 
― J.K. Rowling,

My Friend’s – Sister’s – Husband runs a vinyl night (Don’t get too excited, this is vinyl as in the ‘bring your own records and play them’ kind and whilst for the love of it, it can often become the annoyance of others). Correction, I should say “ran” a vinyl night, past tense being the lucky catalyst that resulted in a lovely cup of tea with an old Gin buddy of mine, and learning more about Lunch on the Run café in Dudley. Stay with me and I’ll start making sense of this…

The last vinyl night was the same evening as Children In Need and Candidate Source donated some raffle prizes, not all of which were used and we were kindly asked if these prizes could be passed on to my Friend’s Cousin (Who is also my Gin Buddy), who works for a charity that places people with learning difficulties into employment. So now I’m thinking… Employment? Recruitment? Sales opportunity perhaps? Fate and a faint whiff of a new client led me to a decent brew with Sally Bassett (Gin Buddy and cousin of a friend) at Lunch on the Run in Dudley.

We were greeted at the counter by a smiling and very accommodating lady who already knew our names, inviting us to a table and taking our drink orders.  I visit a lot of companies and they would do a lot worse than to learn a thing or two from this lady!  We were served by another lady who chatted about the weather, whilst meticulously ensuring that the tea cup, milk and teapot were placed correctly on the table.

There was a mixture of clientele; a group of Mum’s meeting up after half term, mainly to moan about their kids; a couple of people with laptops, who finally realised they were waiting for each other and a lady who’d popped in for lunch. There’s a good variety of food on the menu and interesting choices on the special’s board but just as impressive was the whole café’s spotless appearance and their cheerful staff, who always appeared busy.

It’s the first time that I had ever seen my Gin Buddy in a working environment, and I began by asking her to tell us all about Lunch on the Run. Within a couple of minutes I couldn’t help but feel guilty for thinking of this as a sales opportunity. It was clear that my friend’s only focus was in helping the people who work here and her passion to make those people’s lives better. Lunch on the Run is a commercial business focusing on the coffee shop, outside catering and (Hopefully soon) a kitchen garden. This is a non-profit model that instead, uses its money to train people with learning difficulties. They hope that (Through working at Lunch on the Run) they can give young people the vocational and life skills necessary to find confidence not only within the workplace but socially too.

The lady who’d popped in for lunch (Which they promise me was not prearranged) happened to be the Mother of one of the people who had worked at the café.  For years, she’d been told that her daughter would never be able to work, but through the dedication of Lunch on the Run and their partnership with a local school, her daughter was now working as a dinner lady. Her Mother was so proud of everything her daughter had achieved and so grateful to Sally for the love and support she’d provided, that it really outlined the importance of this wonderful place. Perhaps you’re thinking, ‘How did Sally manage to convince the school to give her a go’? Well, she came up with the brilliant idea of a multimedia CV (Her 17-year-old son assisting in development) to show the personality and determination of this trainee and not just a list of skills on a piece of paper.  I don’t know many Recruitment Agencies that do this on a regular basis, let alone a coffee shop in Dudley!

But Lunch on the Run want to do more; they want to increase the number of trainees they have through sponsorship, increase their commercial services to local businesses, raise funds (Currently for a new fridge) and ultimately increase the number of young people they place into work at other companies. So, that’s where our sales, marketing & PR skills kick in – It soon became apparent that we wouldn’t be selling to Lunch on the Run but doing everything we could to assist them instead, promoting their business and raising funds.

Now I know you saw that blog title and were wondering what on earth the 5^th Best Elvis in the World has to do with all of this? Well, apparently one of my team knows this so-called 5^th Best Elvis (Yes, there really is a competition for this) and we thought we would use this exciting connection to put on some money raising events.

Another member of my team knows someone who runs charity football and we all know someone who knows someone, who manages events. Not to mention an excellent PR & Marketing team we are aware of (Because they have spent the last year promoting us!), so all in all we have the resources to offer a helping hand.

So, we have put down the vinyl, the gin and the lovely brew and are instead, picking up our collecting tins because this year we aim to sponsor a trainee at Lunch on the Run and raise enough funds for a new catering fridge. And if we do really well, some funds for the Kitchen Garden, because importantly, Sally would love the trainees to experience where their food comes from. Over the next few months we will be updating social media with all our activities and asking you for your help.

For a company that helps Recruitment Agencies every day with their candidate attraction, this is a brilliant charity for Candidate Source to support and I know I have lots of lovely clients who will voluntarily (Or through bribery) help and support them too. So, beware, I will be asking for your support – lots!

Finally, if you’re passing through Dudley, why not drop in for a visit? Lunch on the Run do an excellent brew.