Michelle Flanagan and Tracey Wharton from Allied Irish Bank (GB) hand over the cheque to Red Balloon Appeal camapaign manager Barbara Welford

An It's a Knockout event organised by rising stars at Allied Irish Bank (GB) and hosted by TV legend Keith Chegwin has raised £18,300 for Birmingham Children's Hospital's Red Balloon Appeal.
Members of the bank's management development pro-gramme, made up of up and coming staff from across the Midlands, organised the event at the West Midlands Transport Stadium in Kings Heath in July with the target of raising as much money as possible for their chosen charity.
The event saw 21 teams of six from across the Midlands' business and professional community taken through a series of wet and wild challenges under the watchful eye of Chegwin who is currently back on TV as a roving reporter on GMTV.
The organisers also put on a series of other attractions on the day including donkey rides, bucking bronco, a bouncy castle, 'unlock the box', a tomobola as well as a raffle with prizes donated by clients and contacts of Allied Irish Bank (GB).
Teams that took part in the event included HBJ Gateley Wareing, Bigwoods Chartered Surveyors, Sharkey Fabrications Ltd, Calco Midlands Ltd and Martineau Johnson LLP. Others who sponsored games and made donations included PKF Accountants, Needham and James LLP, Business Link West Midlands, Wragge and Co and Sydney Mitchell.
The event on the day raised £8,350 and the bank contributed a further £10,000 which has now been handed over to the Children's Hospital's Red Balloon Appeal which is looking to raise £3 million towards a new £19 million Paediatric Burn Centre.
Michelle Flanagan, who was appointed project leader for the development team, said: "None of us at the bank had any experience at all of organising an event of this nature so it was an extremely steep learning curve for everybody involved but being able to hand over a cheque for £18,300 at the end of it to such an important cause has made it extremely worthwhile.
"While we have all worked hard to ensure the event was a success, we could not have done it without the support of, not just our own clients and contacts, but the wider business and professional community, who have been unstinting in their generosity. For that we are very grateful."
Des Buckley, area director for the Midlands, said: "This was always an extremely tough challenge for the management development programme but they used all their skills of organisation and persuasion to ensure that the day was a great success and a healthy total was raised for the Red Balloon Appeal."
Barbara Welford, from the Red Balloon Appeal, said: "The backing shown by the region's business and professional community for our appeal by supporting events like the It's a Knockout has been outstanding and it is with their help that we will hopefully hit our target by the New Year."