CYAG Annual Dinner

On Friday 6 November 2009 the CYAG group which I am involved in held its first annual dinner.

CYAG stands for Cumbria Young Accountants Group and Michael Peile and I are both Committee members. The groups aim is to give the younger accountants in the area a chance to socialise and network without the formalities of the more senior accounting societies.

After our first event in July we decided to hold an annual dinner at the Foxys restaurant at Carlisle United.

When we arrived we were met by the Carlisle Living cameras. We tried our best to keep out of the way of them but she managed to catch us, so look out for us in the next addition of the magazine.

Once everyone had arrived we all sat down to a lovely carvery. There was a couple of people from every firm on each table so we all got chance to meet new people and to catch up with old friends from financial training and other accountancy courses.

Once the dinner finished we were able to try our luck at a bit of gambling with the two casino tables.

A few of us were more lucky than others, Ricky and Kevin lost their fake money quite quickly, whilst Graeme had some big wins then lost it all in the end. Somehow though I managed to get a bit of a winning streak and managed to win the most money out of everyone during the night and won some meal vouchers. If only it was real money. The night then finished off with a disco.

All in all a good night was had by all and hopefully we will be able to have another good night with our next event.
Mark James

First Aid at Work

Mark James and I attended a First Aid at Work course from 2 to 4 November.

System Group have only recently began offering the First Aid at Work course's, with our group being the first 'Guinea Pigs', so not only were we being assessed but so was our trainer.

There were 12 trainees in total and we were met on the Monday morning and introduced to our trainer, Jason Pedley. The course was broken down into different sections both written and manual, with a lot of information to take in over the 3 days.

The first day everyone was a bit shy with the practical work we came to do but over the remaining 2 days we all got to know each other better and relaxed. There were definitely plenty of opportunities to laugh with each other, including when learning the recovery position with another team member. Mark playing the unconscious casualty seemed to go very rigid.

The content of the course I found really interesting and with Jason not wishing anyone to fail, we went over the main points everyday with a variety of different activities including good ways of remembering the procedures (A.V.P.U and D.R.S.A.B.C). Our trainer was ex-army which meant he had already dealt with a lot more than basic first aid. He had a very practical approach to the course and because he made it interesting, I think we all learnt more.

By day 2 we had completed all the course content and when on to various different scenarios that we may come across, when in the assessment or in the work place. This gave us all the opportunity to have some fake injuries and be involved in being the casualties and First Aiders in the scenarios. We also had special effects make-up which made it all abit more realistic.

Day 3 was mainly for recapping what we had learnt and what we needed more help with doing together with the assessments which we would need to do. Our assessment was made up of a practical paper and 2 'hands on' assessments which were the CPR & Recovery Position and also a scenario in a workshop which we had to treat.

Overall having done a First Aid course previously with St John's Ambulance, I found this course very enjoyable and I think everyone on the course would say they learnt a lot, and would recommend this to anyone.

Mark and I are now First Aid trained but we really hope we don't have to put anything we learnt into practice at our office!!!
Michelle Aiston

The Borderway Agri Expo 2009

On Friday 30 October, our Agricultural team attended the Borderway Agri Expo annual event at H&H Auction Mart, Rosehill, Carlisle.

This was the third year for this event and we were pleased to be a main sponsor again. We also make sure we support the event by having a trade stand. This year the weather was a little kinder to us and it was a lot warmer than the previous year when we had to huddle round the tea urn to keep us all warm.

We had an excellent day, keeping us all busy with many people coming to visit us. Clients and non-clients came to have a drink with us and a chat about business and the ever changing things happening out there in the farming community.

Our competition this year was ‘What am I worth’ – 12 photos of some of the top price breeds both cattle and sheep, sold at the Harrison & Hetherington marts around the country. This proved to be a very popular competition and the overall winner was Edwin Holliday. H&H also had a competition that we sponsored and this year it was ‘Spot the David Allen & Co Mugs’ which everyone could take part in throughout the day. This proved very popular with the younger ones there for a day out on their half term holidays.

Overall, it was a fantastic day and very busy and we look forward to next year’s event.
Emma Pigg