(L-R) Tony Wallis, Toyota's sales and marketing director; Aggie Krasnolucka-Hickman, Toyota's head of marketing & communications; and Sam Clark Programmes, Transaid's support manager.

Toyota supports African project Slough, United Kingdom Toyota Material Handling UK has donated a second forklift to charity Transaid to support its Professional Driver Training Project in Africa. Toyota donated the first forklift in 2009 as part of a joint venture with Norbert Dentressangle Logistics (NDL) UK. Toyota provided a 2.5 T counterbalance forklift, while NDL arranged for one of its forklift trainers to provide onsite training in Transaid's project partner's industrial training centre in Zambia. Transaid, founded by Save the Children and The Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport in 1998, is an international development charity that identifies, implements and shares local transport solutions to boost access to basic services and economic opportunities. FEM welcomes new member Brussels, Belgium The European Federation of Materials Handling (FEM) General Assembly unanimously approved the membership application of Polish association PSTM last week. PSTM was established in 2012 by 20 founding members in Poznan. Its members represent manufacturers and suppliers in the materials handling sector. Mentor donates to charity Chesterfield, United Kingdom Mentor has raised over GBP2,500 (USD4,053) for Children in Need through its 'Mission 25' charity challenge. To mark its 25th anniversary, Mentor took on the challenge of raising GBP25,000 (USD40,529) in 12 months to divide between five causes. It has raised over GBP12,500 (USD20,265) so far. The company has donated GBP0.50 (USD0.81) for every training day booked. Staff have also participated in fundraisers during the year to help reach Mentor's target. The four other chosen charities are Help for Heroes, Prostate Cancer UK, Weston Park Hospital Cancer Charity and Children's Hospice Association Scotland. TMHE boasts trials confirm quality Brussels, Belgium Toyota Material Handling Europe (TMHE) says the extensive field trials it has conducted with its lithium-ion forklifts in multi-shift customer operations globally have confirmed the quality of the product and demonstrated its durability. TMHE's lithium-ion forklift range includes the BT Optio OSE250 and BT Levio LWE200, LPE200 and LPE240 models. The forklift manufacturer says the trucks run longer on less energy and lower cost and offer multi-shift users advantages over conventional lead acid battery-powered trucks in terms of productivity, cost efficiency and CO2 emission reduction. The company's first lithium-ion prototype was exhibited at CeMAT 2011.