Creating powerful communications
It is important to us to work with charities, not just through the services we offer to clients in the third sector, but in the time and support we can give back to organisations in Birmingham.
Many years ago, our Managing Director Jilly Cosgrove was part of Business in the Community (BITC) where the idea for ProHelp originated.
ProHelp was set up to offer professional support on a pro-bono basis to charities in much need of the expertise of the businesses involved with BITC. It could be legal, finance, property or, in our case at Barques, creative support. Back in the 1990s when digital was yet to be the dominant force in marketing, many charities were struggling with their branded collateral. A charity could be just setting up and need full branding, or it could be trying to target certain audiences.
Often there would be just one person in the charity who had to do everything or if they did have help they would ask the support staff to create the identity and the collateral to promote the charity. This often led to very mixed quality results and added to the pressure for those charities! Barques was able to offer the services of our design studio, which in turn, allowed our staff to get involved in supporting charities by providing our services on a pro-bono basis.
ProHelp no longer exists, but our passion for working with charities continues to this day.
Jilly has been on the PFK committee since 2006 and became Chairman in 2015.
"PFK is a charity that is passionate amongst the property and construction industry and all those who sit on the committee give of their time freely. The sole intent of the charity is to raise funds to support kids in the West Midlands who are less fortunate than we are be it through illness, disability or circumstance. Nothing brings more pleasure than to have fun whilst raising money to help others.
Funds are raised through two main events - The Brendas and The Snowball and if you are involved or attend either of these events then no matter how you interact it will leave you with a feel good factor!
Each year we manage to raise £60/70,000 and the in kind support and sponsorship we receive from businesses across this sector is astounding. Long may it continue."
As a lover of golf - Jilly has supported this charity for over 22 years by entering a team. She became Tournament Director in 2011 and during her time as TD alongside her committee they have raised a staggering £191,918 (as at 2022 and with Pandemic break).
Jilly was invited to become a Trustee for Smart Works Birmingham in June 2018 - a brilliant charity that helps women back into work by providing work appropriate clothes for interview followed by interview coaching. The success rate is speaks for itself - over 73% get the job. Having seen the number of women that the Birmingham Centre has helped over the last 4 years is truly amazing and this charity will go from strength to strength.
JQA - is an organisation that was set up for the betterment of the Jewellery Quarter - to protect the Jewellery businesses and buildings therein and to progress the area. This Association formed part of the group that set up the Jewellery Quarter Trust and in turn established the Jewellery Quarter Bid. Jilly along with other key people within the JQ worked together to establish both these organisations and she served on the boards for over 5 years - she is still a director of the JQA.
As a lover of all things creative - Jilly was invited to become an Ambassador for the RBSA based in the Jewellery Quarter. Her role here is to promote the gallery and its artists with a view to raising the profile of this charity.
