Professionals attending this year’s Birmingham Young Professional of the Year (BYPY) Awards have raised over £6,000 to help fund a specialist teacher for local cancer patients at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham Young Persons’ Unit.

BPS Birmingham Future’s flagship event has presented a cheque for £6,195 and the money raised will be used to fund the specialist teacher employed by the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham (QEHB) Charity, which supports young cancer patients aged 16-25 treated on the Young Persons’ Unit.

Michael Tivey, Fundraising Officer for the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham Charity, said:

“We’re thrilled that BYPY was so successful in raising this fantastic amount for our young cancer patients. It is added extras like our teacher post that the hospital charity is set up to provide. We couldn’t provide them without the generous support of fundraisers like BPS Birmingham Future, so we’re incredibly grateful to everyone who attended BYPY and donated.”

BPS Birmingham Future, the membership organisation for the city’s young professionals, chose QEHB Charity as its nominated charity in February and over the next few months will support the team at the Young Persons’ Unit with professional volunteers, helping young patients to develop vital skills, including presentation, communication, and CV development. There will also be an opportunity, once the patients have completed their treatment, for them to be referred to the city’s top firms for work experience placements.

The money raised from the BYPY 2015 charity raffle smashed previous donations by more than £1,000, as the highest amount raised in the event’s 15 year history. The donations made by BYPY attendees will help fund a specialist teacher who helps patients continue to study whilst undergoing treatment at the unit, which has received unprecedented media coverage following the campaign by the late Stephen Sutton.

Michael Shepherd, Chair of BPS Birmingham Future, added:

“We at BPS Birmingham Future are delighted to have raised these funds for the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham Charity, in particular The Teenage Cancer Trust Young Person’s Unit.  Throughout 2015 our members will help young patients to develop vital skills, including presentation, communication and CV development. In choosing this project it reinforces our commitment to supporting and developing the opportunities available to young people within Birmingham through education.”

This year’s BPS Birmingham Future celebrated 15 years of BYPY, welcoming over 800 professionals from across the city’s business and professional services sector. The glittering award ceremony was hosted by Channel 4 Countdown host Rachel Riley and supported by businesses including Chiltern Railways Mainline, SimkissGuy Recruitment, Connect Group, Gateley, Deloitte, Effective Board Member, Greater Birmingham Professional Services Academy, Forresters, Squire Patton Boggs, CBRE, and Common Purpose.

The coveted title of BPS Birmingham’s Birmingham Young Professional of the Year (BYPY) 2015 was awarded to Katie Kershaw from Node Urban Design.