JCI Barnsley's blog | Read the latest updates here

JCI World President Visits the UK! How many pillows can you fit in a Toyota Yaris?

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 20:40:21 +0000

As a JCI member you never quite know what new experiences await you as you set off for an event... and last Friday night was no different!

Gemma, Charlie and I set off for Sheffield with expectations of meeting the World President, Bertolt Daems, supporting the Archer Project and watching some off the cuff public speaking (known as Extempore in JCI).

We got much more than we bargained for though! Our first task was to deliver pillows and blankets donated by the Holiday Inn Royal Victoria to the Archer Project. Squeezing ourselves and numerous bags of bedding into a little car, then trying to work out the best way to the cathedral, kicked off the night with plenty of giggles.

Once we arrived at the Archer Project we learned more about the fantastic work they do with homeless and vulnerable people in the city. To support the Archer Project, we all wore our favourite winter headwear for ‘Woolly Hat Day', an event to raise funds and awareness for the project.

After an address from the World President and some cracking pie and peas, the Extempore event kicked off to a flying start with our very own Charlie being drawn second to compete. New member Charlie hadn't even heard of this public speaking competition before, but she did us proud and gave a great performance talking about her unusual pets!

After a spot of catching up with old friends and meeting new members, we headed for home full of enthusiasm for the organisation and the opportunities it gives us to make a difference.

P.S. If you're interested, we had to stop at 33 pillows, 5 blankets, 3 Barnsley members and the Immediate Past National President!

New Member Charlie Pearson on her first month as a JCI Barnsley member!

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 20:21:39 +0000

My first month as member!

The JCI is all about pushing your comfort zone to develop your self personally or professionally and in my first month as a member I have done just that! I have meet loads of new people, stood up to speak in front of an audience and have had crazy ideas that turned into real plans.

One main thing I have noticed this month is the willingness and trust the members of JCI Barnsley have towards a new member and their desire to get involved. After being a member for only a couple of weeks I have been able to take the lead on organising a soon to be amazing event without anyone having doubts (well none they have voiced!).

I think this shows just what an opportunity being a member of JCI Barnsley is. There are loads of different roles from local to national and I can't wait to try as many of them as possible and who knows what I'll learn along the way.

January Review

Sat, 11 Feb 2012 21:30:45 +0000

The start to 2012 has been hectic but a brilliant start to our 60th year. We've had 4 new members join, a 200% new member increase on 2011!! I've been to Barnsley & Rotherham Chamber of Commerce representative meeting telling local businesses all about JCI Barnsley and what we can offer to their staff and friends. We've also made a great connection with the Digital Media Centre in Barnsley, where one of our newest members comes from and I'm really looking forward to working with them over the coming months.

We've finalised our personal development programme for the year and have secured some fantastic trainers to help develop our members skill base. You can expect to receive training on goal setting, top 10 tips for confidence, what is networking?, how to market yourself, what is CSR?, how to make your life "lean" and presenting skills! We're particularly looking forward to welcoming Kate Senter, James Alcock and Dan Senter, JCI Sheffield members who are JCI trainers at the very start of their JCI training lives.

We've also been gathering ideas for our social events and these will include bowling, self defence training, an Easter themed event, clay pigeon shooting and fencing! Plus there will be the usual pub get togethers, meals out and the pub/quiz crawl in the summer. Never let it be said JCI Barnsley are not a social bunch!

2012 is all about spreading the JCI Barnsley word, raising our profile in the area and building a better person for the future. We'll be highly active on Twitter (jci_barnsley), Linkedin and Facebook this year so if you are using any of these social media sites, please connect with us. We've even created a new Facebook page so please come over and have a look, "like" us and share with all your friends.

I couldn't have wished for a better start to the year, I have a feeling the rest of the year is going to be just as good! 45 members left to find to hit our 60 target for the year!!!

Miss it, Miss out!!

Meet Our Finance Director Debbie Tills

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 21:41:39 +0000

Meet JCI Barnsley Finance Director Debbie Tills who has been a member for 7 years!

What made you join JCI?

I joined JCI Barnsley in 2005 when I started working in Barnsley. It was my first ‘proper job' after leaving university and I wanted to improve my confidence, business skills and social network. My membership has delivered all these things, an much more!

How has JCI helped your finance skills?

I'm not a big fan of numbers, but I do like a good spreadsheet, so being Finance Director allows me to keep our income and expenditure on track against our budget and ensure that we use our funds to ensure our members get the most out of belonging to our Chamber.

You have attended many international events, what do you get from an international event that is different from simply being a local member?

JCI helps you to build your network, by attending events outside Barnsley you get to meet more people, which open up many more opportunities. So far my involvement in JCI has taken me up and down the country and beyond to Scotland, Finland, Sweden, Hungary, Latvia and Cataluña.

What is your favourite JCI memory?

One day at the European Conference sums up everything great that JCI has to offer - in the space of 24 hours I had made it through the European Debating final with fellow Yorkshire President's Emma and Lisa; welcomed UK National President, Charlie Best's husband Andrew to the city after his epic cycle ride from Doncaster, raising funds for Nothing But Nets on the way; been sightseeing with friends; and finally had an amazing time at the German night party held in one of the famous baths. How will I ever top that?

Inspiration Day 2012

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 20:21:36 +0000

Members from around the country descended on the Second City on January 28 as 62 members from 12 JCI local chambers met for the annual Inspiration Day in Birmingham.

The inspirational theme was particularly fitting as the host city prepares to re-launch its own chamber next month and we were all on hand happy to offer our support and encouragement.

The theme for this day was "Making a difference" in line with the JCI UK 2012 theme of the same name. We were also joined by Jukka Vainionpaa- JCI Vice President 2012 to the UK from Finland, Lesley Young- 2012 JCI UN Commissioner , Julia Blakey- British Senate Chair 2012 and members of this year's JCI UK National Board.

Keynote speaker for the morning session was Noam Kostucki, an award winning speaker and co-founder of three social enterprises. Noam is no stranger to making a difference and helping others do the same. Noam talked to the group about a number of issues around taking steps to realise your goals, planning and taking the next step each time you achieve something, constantly challenging yourself and not just settling for achieving. Noam also explored the issue of why do we always write down our vision when pictures say so much more. The room was challenged to draw out the visions we all had for 2012 and show them to each other to see if we could understand them. It was surprising how many people could clearly interpret each other's vision pictures despite some abysmal drawing, mine included! Myself and Debbie each drew out JCI Barnsley's vision for 2012 and I've included it below so everyone can see where we are trying to drive JCI Barnsley this year, while also acting as a reminder throughout the year of just what aim we set ourselves in January 2012.

The afternoon session was about spreading the word about JCI Birmingham and we were tasked to take to the streets of the Second City and do exactly that. When set it did seem an easy task but as the afternoon unfolded it was easy to see that just stopping random people in the street was not as easy as we first thought. By the end of the afternoon coffee shops and pubs had been leafleted, numerous photos of JCI had been tweeted, a list of email addresses had been gathered from potential interested parties and a JCI Birmingham LinkedIn group had been created! Not bad for two hours' work. One group even spelt out JCI in human beings and used leaflets on the floor in JCI lettering to attract passers by - never let it be said JCI members are not creative!

The whole day was a fantastic chance to catch up with friends from other chambers, meet new faces, and swap ideas and success stories. It was great to hear other chambers saying how inspired they were by our start to 2012 and for me that was the highlight of the day, seeing JCI Barnsley as an inspiration to other UK chambers.

Over the next 12 months I will be revisiting my picture vision, reminding myself of the goals I have set myself as well as JCI Barnsley and when I am feeling deflated I will certainly think back to the inspirational words of Noam and my fellow JCI members.

2012 is going to be a fantastic year!!Members from around the country descended on the Second City on January 28 as 62 members from 12 JCI local chambers met for the annual Inspiration Day in Birmingham.

The inspirational theme was particularly fitting as the host city prepares to re-launch its own chamber next month and we were all on hand happy to offer our support and encouragement.

2012 is going to be a fantastic year!!

Kirstie Barnett- 2012 JCI Barnsley President

JCI Barnsley Annual Dinner 2012

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 20:56:59 +0000

On Friday 13th 100 of the finest JCI Barnsley members past, present, senators, JCI regional and national members and members of the business community gathered together to see just if superstition existed. Thankfully the bad luck omen was foiled as the night was a fantastic success.

The night was centred on celebrating JCI Barnsley's success over the past 60 years, highlighting how members have achieved their goals and developed their skills thanks to JCI. The University of Huddersfield, Barnsley Campus had created a storyboard of all the photos gathered from the last 60 years to commemorate the anniversary, including newspaper cuttings from the 1960s right through to the present day. This was accompanied by a diamond theme running through created by local University student Michael Steer.

Senators Laura and Nigel Mackfall spoke as a double act, well, Laura was fully prepared with a well thought out speech, Nigel became an off the cuff speaker which I'm sure he learnt the art of through JCI and Extempore! Steve Bailey spoke of his time with fond memories of not only how JCI helped him develop, but how he gained life long friends. A wonderfully delivered impromptu toast to JCI Barnsley was made by Jonathan Stone, past JCI Wakefield member and it was clear that everyone in the room echoed his kind words of support and appreciation of JCI Barnsley.

2012 JCI UK National President Solveig Malvik spoke of her plans to build on the excellent foundations that IPP Allison Cowell had laid in 2011 and build the membership base across the UK. 2011 JCI Barnsley President Vicky Savage spoke of her year, the achievements that had been made and awarded members trophies as part of the formal awards ceremony. 2012 incoming President Kirstie Barnett talked of the challenge the chamber faces in 2012, the need to rebuild the membership base and made a plea to anyone who knows someone in need of all the benefits that JCI can offer, to send them to see us, and we'll help them achieve their goals. Kirstie also talked of the need to support members' developmental needs with a robust and cost effective training programme as well as the fun and social elements that JCI Barnsley is known for. The challenge for 2012 is to have 60 members by the end of the year, some would say, a ridiculous target but never one to shy away from a challenge Kirstie and her council are certainly going to give this their best shot.

The annual Heads & Tails game raised £400 for the 2012 chosen charity, Help for Heroes.

Once all the speeches and the awards were finished it was time for the partying to commence and the band, Rock and Soul Machine who had played at the 2011 National Convention played for several hours and entertained the crowds. The partying continued long into the night and one thing is for sure, JCI Barnsley is well and truly alive and kicking in 2012 and stand back anyone who dares to stand in their way!

JCI Barnsley Award Winners for 2011

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 20:45:03 +0000

Each year JCI Barnsley recognises those members that have gone above and beyond during the year. These members are recognised in January of the following year at the JCI Barnsley Annual Dinner. Congratulations to all the 2011 winners and we hope 2012 will be as successful!

The 1st award of the evening was for contributions to Social Activities and this Barnsley member had organised many social events this year from Comedy nights to the Wharfdale quiz. The winner of the Sarah Ford Trophy went to Richard Grange.

The 2nd Award of the evening was for contribution to community activities and the winner of this award as not only contributed to JCI Barnsley 2011 chosen charity BIADS but also on a National Level she took on the role as National Community Director and achieved many success one being the national penny wars . The Bernard Walk den Trophy went to Gemma Fletcher.

The 3rd Award of the evening was the Catherine Berry Above and beyond award, the winner of that award had not only dedicated her time to JCI Barnsley but has also had a National Board role as Administration Director. She has been responsible for many roles but the award is for the above and beyond support during Regional and National Award evenings. The Catherine Berry Award went to Debbie Tills.

The 4th Award of the evening was the JCI Aberdeen Friendship Quaich for contributions to International Activities, The award went to a JCI Barnsley member who is not only happy to travel up and down the UK to attend events but also jumps on a plane to attend international events. The JCI Aberdeen Friendship Quaich award went to Gemma Fletcher.

The 5th Award of the evening was to recognise one of our long standing Patrons as we all know good patrons are vital to the success of any chamber. This Patron is patient and flexible and always supportive the winner was Ardsley House Hotel as the 2011 Patron of the year.

The final award was the Keith Lax Trophy, This JCI Barnsley member has been a driving force in creating a long term action plan for JCI Barnsley. But at one eventful local leaders weekend she was inspired to become the 2012 JCI Barnsley President. The Keith Lax Trophy went to Kirstie Barnett.

JCI Barnsley Plans for 2012

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 19:54:34 +0000

Read all about President, Kirstie Barnett's plans for 2012!

Socials

Regular social events will be introduced on the first Thursday of every month. Ideas so far include clay pigeon shooting, Old No 7 beer festival, fencing & self defence lessons, annual summer pub train crawl and an Easter themed event! Any other ideas please let us know and we'll see what we can do!

Personal Development

Introduce a regular training session, third Thursday of every month starting in April covering a variety of topics including setting objectives and having a positive mindset, top 10 tips on confidence, how to network, public speaking and many more

Business Tours

We have already arranged a business tour of Acorn Brewery in Wombwell for Thursday 23rd February. We are just confirming the arrangements but the plan will be to have a tour and talk about the brewery at 7pm and then move into the Old No7 pub which the brewery owns in the town centre for a bit of sampling! Anyone interested in reserving a place should email jcibarnsley@hotmail.co.uk as soon as possible as places will be limited.

If anyone has any other local businesses they think would make an interesting business tour, please let us know and we'll see if we can make it happen.

PR & Marketing

We want to raise the profile of JCI Barnsley throughout the town, using various methods and means. We are developing strong links with the University of Huddersfield Barnsley Campus to work with their students to help prepare and support them when they eventually leave university and step into the world of working.

Membership

We have set a target of having 60 members by the end of 2012 so the PR and marketing is going to be key to developing this.

Fundraising and Community Work

Our chosen charity for 2012 is Help for Heroes. On the 9th November 2011 Private Matthew Thornton sadly lost his life in a conflict in Helmand. He was out on patrol at a checkpoint when he and his fellow compatriots were attacked and Private Thornton was caught in a road side IED explosion and unfortunately lost his life.

Private Thornton was a member of the 4th Battalion Yorkshire Regiment and just 28 years old when his life was cut short. On the day of his funeral in late November the streets of Darton in Barnsley were lined with hundreds of locals paying their respects.
Private Thornton's family have set out to raise £100,000 for Help for Heroes, the charity which provides practical support for our injured servicemen and women.

I know with the support of our members and the local community we can pull together to be able to look back this time next year and feel proud that we did our little bit to support the Thornton family and Help for Heroes.

JCI Barnsley chooses to support Help For Heroes in their 60th year!

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 19:31:19 +0000

Each year JCI Barnsley chooses one charity to support through donations and the giving of their time, This year President, Kirstie Barnett, has choosen Help For Heroes as JCI Barnsley's charity in their Diamond Anniversary Year.

On the 9th November 2011 Private Matthew Thornton sadly lost his life in a conflict in Helmand. He was out on patrol at a checkpoint when he and his fellow compatriots were attacked and Private Thornton was caught in a road side IED explosion and unfortunately lost his life.

President Kirstie Barnett says about the charity "I know the local community can pull together to be able to look back this time next year and feel proud that we did our bit to support the Thorton family and Help for Heroes."

Meet Immediate Past President- Vicky Savage

Sat, 21 Jan 2012 19:28:49 +0000

Meet JCI Barnsley's Immediate Past President, Vicky Savage:

What made you join JCI?

The Vice Principle of Barnsley College encouraged me to contact the then President Debbie Tills to arrange a meeting and find out all about JCI and the rest is history.

Personal development is a key area of JCI, what sort of development opportunities have you been involved with during your time as a member?

During my time I've had the privilege to attend a variety of training sessions across the UK. The thing about JCI is if you suggest or voice a particular interest to your Chamber you can arrange and organise that training.

What is your favourite area of JCI opportunity?

The best thing about JCI is meeting people who you would never normally meet in your day to day life as your paths would never cross.

What is your favourite JCI memory?

I have far too many but a memorable trip to Edinburgh, for the JCI Edinburgh Burns Supper, with falling down tights springs to mind.

New 2012 JCI UK National President Solveig tells us 10 ways JCI can help your career (and your community) - and how it helped her!

Tue, 29 Nov 2011 23:00:43 +0000

Dear JCI member and friend,

As the economy in the UK and Europe is getting worse and worse and people are taking to the streets in frustration or picking up a gun (as in my home country, Norway), JCI offers real and proven opportunities for you to take control over your career. Ways you can stand out, help your community and make the best of your opportunities.

In JCI we are busy preparing for 2012 and there's lots of opportunities for you to get invovled. Check out the opportunities for roles on national board for a truly national and international network, talk to your local president for opportunities on the local level and how you can help your local community, and read our blog to get inspired on what is going on across the country already.

I'm Solveig Malvik and I'm the National President for JCI UK 2012. I'd like to share with you how JCI has helped me in my career, how it can help you, and how we in JCI can make a positive difference in our local communities.

Find your local chamber for local opportunities in 2012
contact me on solveig.malvik@jciuk.org.uk if you want to get involved or want more information

10 ways JCI can help your career (and your community) - and how it helped me!

JCI has been incredibly helpful for my career. I just (last week! yay!) started a job as Head of Marketing, part of the Senior Management Team at a national training provider, and I can tell you that I would never have gotten this job had if I had not been involved with JCI.

I want to share with you how that happened to me, and how you can make the same happen in your life - it if is a better job, more control over your career, a promotion, better career opportunities or simply just getting better at what you do. And all this while working with our local community making them Be Better too.

1) Challenge yourself - Last year, mostly because no one else wanted to, I got the opportunity to represent the UK in the JCI World Public Speaking Championship at the European finals at the 2010 JCI European Conference in Denmark. And lo and behold! I won! So off I went to the World Finals in Osaka, Japan, 6 months later. Was I nervous? Yep, what an understatement. But by that time I was also prepared. People from all across the organisation, both in the UK and abroad, had been helping me to make sure I was able to do my best. When I stood there on the platform I was nervous as I knew I was being judged, but I also felt incredibly lucky and loved, knowing everyone just wanted me to do my best.

2) Go outside your comfort zone - Yeah, the public speaking championship was pretty far outside my comfort zone. Though the things that have taken me the furthest outside my comfort zones are not the big flashy events. Its the smaller things where every day I've had the opportunity to try something I wasn't comfortable with and get positive results. From sending this email to you, to chairing a meeting, speaking to Senators, all the way to speaking in the House of Lords. JCI offers you lots of little ways you can learn something new and useful.

3) Take every opportunity to learn something new - I never thought I'd find myself in marketing. And even less head of a marketing team. But I've always been interested in communication and in managing people, the how's, why's and what's. So I've always been curious. Read and listened. And taken every opportunity to try things out. Managing a project team in JCI with the Entrepreneurial Academy, working on communication with the newsletters and websites of JCI, learning what works and what doesn't. One of the best ways to learn something new? Get involved in JCI on the national or local level in 2012. Take on a director role or a project, have fun! try something new!

4) Think inside the box, then do the other thing -It's a cliché to think outside the box - have you thought about what it looks like to think *inside* the box? Write down all the obvious things? Then write down the exact opposite? Then you write down what you can actually do. And just go do it. That's one of many tricks and ideas I've learned in training sessions with JCI.

5) Build a global network - In JCI we say we want to be "the world's leading network of young active citizens". And we are. We're the largest organisation of like minded people in the world. And we're all over the world. And we're connected. It's a big kick to go to somewhere like Manila and have people from all over the world asking you about your new business and how they can do business with you. This is what JCI does.

6) Build a trust based network - A network isn't how many names are in your contacts book, but how many people know you and trust you, people you can count on when things really matter. JCI isn't a networking organisation, but the network you get in JCI will be with you for life. Its people you've worked with, laughed with, cried with. Its real connections. Real friends. People who will help you for life.

7) Help yourself, help others - In JCI we don't believe in business for the sake of business, but business as so far it can help develop our community. The mind-set of "Be better", always looking to see how we can go that extra mile (or meal), do things just a bit better, make things better for the people around us.

8) Give back - Giving back feels good. Helping others feel good. We know that most of us join JCI for what we can get out of the organisation, but the majority of us stay in the organisation for what we can give back, for what we can help others do. In JCI you get to be part of the bigger picture, help your local community through local projects, or help fight malaria in Africa (funnily also through local projects here in the UK, it's amazing what a local project can do, really).

9) Surprise yourself! - When I joined JCI I barely dared talk to the local president and I thought the national president was something similar to a semi-god. They were intimidating and awesome people I highly admired. I could never ever see myself as a local president. And national president?!? You must be kidding me! And here I find myself - past president of JCI London (2010) and future National President for JCI UK. And it's all happened awfully fast but been awfully fun all along the way.

10)Remember to have fun! - It's been busy and gone fast but I've done things I've never ever dreamt of and had more fun than I ever thought I would. From visiting the tsunami stricken areas of Japan and getting in the middle of a tsunami warning ourselves, touring the UK with the world president (he's awesome! and really really nice!), setting up my own business on the back of my JCI experience to the weekly and monthly meetings with our amazing and always interesting members - it's all been fun. And I'll keep going as long as it keeps being fun, that I can promise you.

Check out the opportunities for you on National Board 2012 or find opportunities in your local chamber by talking to your local President.

Help us Be Better!
Do you have an idea for how we can do things differently or better in JCI UK? Please share it with me. It doesn't matter if you've been a member for a year or a week, any idea is welcome.

I look forward to hearing from you! (and maybe working with you next year, on local or national level).

And if you want inspiration for what people have already done, and read more about the things I've been up to, check out the JCI UK blog!

Yours,

Solveig Malvik
solveig.malvik@jciuk.org.uk

National President JCI UK 2012
Deputy National President JCI UK 2011
Marketing Director JCI UK 2011
Immediate Past President JCI London (2010)
Certified National Trainer (CNT)
2010 European Public Speaking Champion

Congratulations to all JCI UK 2011 Award Winners

Tue, 29 Nov 2011 22:48:42 +0000

By Solveig Malvik, 2012 JCI UK President

Congratulations to the winners of the 2011 JCI UK National Awards at this weekends JCI UK National Convention, Sheffield!

Every year local Chambers across the UK submit awards to be recognized for their hard work and efforts during the year. The winning awards go on to the European Awards at the JCI European Conference in Braunschweig in 2012.

Please join us in congratulating the following:

NATIONAL AWARDS
Most Outstanding Community Project
Winner - JCI Manchester for their 3 Peaks Challenge

Most Outstanding Fundraising Project
Winner - JCI Leeds for Fashion Bites Back

Most Outstanding Business Project
Winner - JCI Sheffield 'There's an App for that!'

Most Outstanding Training and Development Programme
Winner - JCI Sheffield Academy
Certificate of Merit - JCI Southampton Personal Development Programme

Most Outstanding International Project
Winner -JCI London's 'Live Like a Londoner' weekend

Most Outstanding Marketing and PR Programme
Winner -JCI Sheffield
Certificate of Merit - JCI Cambridge

Most Outstanding Membership Recruitment Programme
Winner -JCI Manchester

Most Outstanding Social Project
Winner -JCI Southampton

Most Outstanding Regular Local Publication
Winner -JCI Boston
Certificate of Merit - JCI London

Most Outstanding Programme
Winner -JCI Portsmouth

Most Outstanding Current Member
Winner -Daniel Senter, JCI Sheffield

Most Outstanding New Member
Winner - Soraya Bowen, JCI London

Most Outstanding Trainer
Emma Eastwood, JCI Leeds

Most Outstanding Preparation by a Deputy President
Winner -Sandra Pilarczyk, JCI Sheffield
Certificate of Merit - Simon Bucknall, JCI London

Most Outstanding President
Winner -Sarah Beckwith, JCI London

Certificates of Recognition:
Chamber with 24-49 members:
Drew Charman, JCI Southampton

Chamber with 50-99 members:
Kate Senter, JCI Sheffield

Chamber with 100+ members:
Sarah Beckwith, JCI London

Most Outstanding Chamber
JCI Sheffield

CONFERENCE AWARDS
Extempore Competition
Tim Metcalfe, JCI Leeds

Public Speaking Competition
Phil Cavalier-Lumley, JCI Bradford

Debating Competition
Bradfield, Phil Cavalier-Lumley (JCI Bradford), Anil Champaneri (JCI Leeds) & Dan Senter (JCI Sheffield)

Best individual debater
Dan Senter, JCI Sheffield

DISCRETIONARY AWARDS
Most Outstanding Leader
Jen Little, JCI Cambridge
Tracy Anderson, JCI Boston

Most Oustanding Legacy
Adam Woodhall

Most Outstanding Senator
The British Senate

Sheffield hosts future business leaders

Mon, 28 Nov 2011 20:39:18 +0000

Published on Saturday 26 November 2011 09:00 in Sheffield Telegraph

THE country's future business leaders will be in Sheffield this weekend.

Two hundred young business professionals are attending the national convention of the Junior Chamber International, which starts tomorrow (Friday) at the Royal Victoria Holiday Inn.

A gala dinner and national awards ceremony will take place at Kelham Island Museum as part of the event.

JCI specialises in the personal development of young business people and professionals in their twenties and thirties by providing networking opportunities, training and social events.

Groups based in Sheffield, Barnsley Bradford, Doncaster and Leeds joined forces to bring the national convention to Yorkshire, presenting their bid to the national JCI board.

Kate Senter, president of JCI Sheffield, said: "Bringing this event to Sheffield is all thanks to the Yorkshire business community working together for the same cause.

"The three JCI Chambers have been working collaboratively as JCI Yorkshire, meaning that together, we can host a bigger a better event and deliver a fantastic annual convention."

The convention programme includes presentations, workshops and training that aids leadership and development of young business professionals.

Gary Verity, chief executive of Welcome to Yorkshire, said the convention "provides Sheffield and Yorkshire with a great opportunity to show people from across the UK how amazing it is here, and we look forward to welcoming them back for their holidays and short breaks".

JCI Barnsley chocolate night makes the Barnsley Chronicle

Tue, 29 Nov 2011 18:14:58 +0000

JCI Barnsley Chocolate Tasting Night Review

Wed, 30 Nov 2011 18:20:47 +0000

Written by Ian Bragger

JCI members and the Barnsley community gathered at the Holiday Inn at Dodworth for a sell out chocolate tasting event with Melanie and Jim of Melanie's Cakes, Cudworth. The evening started with a hand out of different kinds of chocolate much to the delight of the crowd! Melanie and Jim then began the demonstration with tips first on preparation, before continuing with a step by step guide on how to make a selection of luxury hand made soft centres, truffles and chocolate boxes. Much to the relief of the crowd a cold enough fridge was found so that all the chocolate could set to once again be handed out for all to try! Throughout any questions were well answered to help those with baking skills to attempt to make their own.

A raffle then followed with a selection of wines for the runners up. Thanks to Melanie the winner was treated to one of the evenings products, a chocolate box filled with truffles and much more. The £84 proceeds from the raffle went to the Barnsley Independent Alzheimer's & Dementia Support and people in attendance also donated biscuit tins for their Christmas campaign. The evening finished with the opportunity for people to buy chocolate items from Melanie, including the kilogram chocolate Christmas Pudding which went down a treat!

A huge thank you to local business graduate Charlotte Pearson for taking the photographs on the night.

Raffle winner reaching 1st prize from Deputy President Kirstie Barnett, a Chocolate box and luxury chocolates hand made during the night. Donated by Melanie & Jim of Melanie's Cakes in Cudworth.

JCI Barnsley members, Gemma Fletcher, Debbie Tills, Kirstie Barnett and Vicky Savage presenting Pam from BIADS with the kind donations from the local community for the Christmas Care Appeal.

JCI BARNSLEY ANNOUNCED BIADS FUNDRAISING TOTAL FOR 2011

Thu, 24 Nov 2011 13:17:39 +0000

Following our last fundraising event of 2011, we can confirm we have raised a fantastic £662 for Barnsley Independent Alhzeimers and Dementia Support. Thank you to everyone who has donated to this cause, JCI members from across the UK have participated at our many events.

It has been a great pleasure to support this fantastic cause during 2011 and we were very pleased to be able to present Pam from BIADS with the tins of chocolates and sweets for their Christmas Cares Appeal at the Chocolate Tasting night.

We wish BIADS great success with their continued campaign to raise funds to keep their vital community charity running for the future.

JCI Barnsley Chocolate Tasting Night success

Thu, 24 Nov 2011 13:19:40 +0000

Brilliant Chocolate Tasting event tonight. 65 chocoholics all in 1 room, raised £84 for BIADS taking this years total to £622. The official blog and photos to follow.

Thank you to everyone who donated a tin of sweets or biscuits for the BIADS christmas cares appeal too.

Barnsley Law Society Quiz for Children In Need

Sat, 19 Nov 2011 18:23:22 +0000

Barnsley Law Society threw down the gauntlet to JCI Barnsley to beat them at their own quiz in aid of Children in Need so 6 of us arrived at Chilli in Barnsley with enthusiasm and our winning caps on. Unfortunately that is where the word "winning" disappeared! With 6 rounds, 1 including a legal round and no sport round we were doomed from the start. We had taken our secret weapons, 1 sports journalist and 3 other's with a keen interest in sport, and a reality tv/celebrity/twitter obsessive but this was useless!!!

To be fair, whoever wrote the quiz must have set out to pick the most obscure, weird and difficult questions ever as out of 40 points available, no-one in the room scored more than 15 so we didn't feel too bad when we scored 14 and 12.

There was plenty of laughter at the lack of knowledge of everyone in the room, and the drinks and cheesy puffs were flowing and it was for charity so at the end of the day, that's what matters!

Roll on the Wharfedale Quiz in 2012 when the questions seem to be easier to answers!!!

New website launch!!!!

Thu, 10 Nov 2011 21:18:13 +0000

New Website

We are pleased to annnounce our new website is complete and all the content has been uploaded to it. The new style website will be available from Friday 18th November. You can expect lots of blogging from the members on all the events across the region we attend, and further afield. It also allows us to showcase patrons logos prominently on the front page and also the charities we are supporting.

Feedback on the new website would be gratefully received by clicking this link jcibarnsley@hotmail.co.uk

Presidents Roundup of October 2011

Thu, 10 Nov 2011 21:17:22 +0000

Presidents Roundup!
Brrrr.... Winter is here and dare I say the word Christmas! Before then JCI Barnsley have lots of exciting events for you to attend. Firstly we are celebrating the success from the recent JCI Yorkshire Regional Awards where Deputy President Kirstie Barnett won a Certificate of Merit for "Most Outstanding New Member" and we also won "Most Outstanding Contribution by a chamber to the region". JCI Barnsley would like to say a big congratulations to all the winners and we look forward to the JCI UK National Awards which are held during the JCI UK National Convention on Friday 25th November. Bookings are still being taken so don't miss out on what is sure to be an amazing weekend!

http://www.eventelephant.com/thejciuknationalconvention2011

JCI Barnsley are rounding off the year with a brilliant social/community event which has proven very popular. The chocolate tasting session at the Holiday Inn Barnsley on Wednesday 23rd November is now fully booked but we do have a reserve list running at the moment.. We are raising funds for our chosen charity BIADS but also we are collecting for their Christmas Cares appeal so if you can spare a tin of biscuits or chocolates please bring along to this event.

Hopefully we've provided you lots of exciting and interesting events to come and attend and also remember please send any suggestions of events you would like to see on our calendar.