Corporate partnerships: Reality HR event raises £700 for Gynaecological Cancer Fund

Plus: Quiz brings in nearly £2,000 for Book Aid International; quarry is greened up thanks to Cemex and the RSPB; and Bayer links up with Brook

The Basingstoke-based HR consultancy Reality HR raised more than £700 for the Gynaecological Cancer Fund at a beauty and style event. The event included a talk from beauty companies and image consultants and a raffle, with prizes donated by Reality HR’s staff and clients. The company chose GCF as its charity of the year for 2017 after one of its employees was diagnosed with a rare form of ovarian cancer last year. It has committed to raising £2,000 through a number of events throughout the year.

Teams of employees from across the book industry went head-to-head earlier this month in a book quiz that raised £1,963 for Book Aid International. As a result of the quiz, BAI will be able to send 981 books to places where people have limited access to them. Staff members from Bloomsbury, Hodder Education, Little Brown, Macmillan, Quercus, Schofield & Simms and United Agents, and from the library service in London’s Tower Hamlets, made up the 16 teams that took part in the quiz.

A disused quarry in Staffordshire is being restored to create a home for wildlife as part of a partnership between the building materials company Cemex and the RSPB. The restoration of Hopwas Quarry near Tamworth will mark the completion of a project the two organisations began in 2010 to create 1,000 hectares of land for wildlife in former quarry sites. The restoration has included 50 sites across England, Scotland and Wales, and has provided homes for 46 threatened species of bird, as well as other rare species including otters, red squirrels and water voles, plants and amphibians. The restored sites have also attracted more than 750,000 visitors to different sites.

The global pharmaceutical company Bayer has formed a strategic partnership with the sexual health charity Brook, which the charity hopes will support its work through a planned £30m reduction in public health funding in 2017/18. The partnership will have a particular focus on long-acting, reversible contraception.

A Sainsbury’s superstore in Farnham, Surrey, has presented its charity of the year, the local Phyllis Tuckwell hospice, with a cheque for £7,398. The money was raised through bucket collections, shop till collection tins, 5p carrier bag charges and fees from community groups whose members use the Sainsbury’s car park.

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300 mile cycle ride raises over £21,000

Posted: 24th August 2017

Leicestershire and Rutland Freemasons have completed a four-day cycle ride visiting all the Masonic centres in the Province before continuing to Freemasons’ Hall in London and back again.

The 300 mile trip not only marked the 300th anniversary of Freemasonry, but raised over £21,000 to be split equally between the Rainbows Children’s Hospice in Loughborough and the Masonic Charitable Foundation.

The 23 cyclists ranged from 19 to 64 years of age and were from 15 masonic lodges based in Leicester, Oakham, Syston, Market Harborough and Ashbourne in Derbyshire.

They were waved off from Freemasons’ Hall, Leicester, by the Deputy Provincial Grand Master, VW Bro Jim Buckle, and Helen Smith from Rainbows, and during the ride were welcomed by Brethren at the Masonic Centres in Loughborough, Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Coalville, Hinckley, Lutterworth, Market Harborough, Uppingham, Oakham, Melton Mowbray and Syston.

They were also warmly welcomed at Freemasons’ Hall, London, by the Chief Executive of the Masonic Charitable Foundation, David Innes. The cyclists made a quick detour in London to visit St. Paul’s Churchyard where the first Grand Lodge of England was formed 300 years ago in 1717 at the Goose and Gridiron ale-house.

W Bro Simon Oldfield from the Wyggeston Lodge and organiser of the event, said: ‘We are all proud to have taken part in a great adventure and it’s such an achievement by all the riders and support crew, with great team spirit and camaraderie to raise money for charity.’

The cyclists arrived back on schedule at Freemasons’ Hall, Leicester, where they were welcomed by the Assistant Provincial Grand Master, VW Bro Peter Kinder and a large number of family and friends.

W Bro Paul Simpson, Master of St. Wilfrid’s Lodge in Market Harborough, said: ‘The whole experience was most enjoyable. This is what Freemasonry is all about – working together as a team to raise funds for charity whilst having great fun in doing so. I made friends that will be friends for life now.’

The Provincial Grand Master, RW Bro David Hagger, commented: ‘I most sincerely thank the cyclists and assisting crew on behalf of all the Freemasons and their families in Leicestershire and Rutland for the generous contribution they have made. It is truly a magnificent achievement.’




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Partnerships round-up: Greene King raises £3m for Macmillan in five years

Plus: Wilko smashes yearly target; Masterclass Trust announces partnership with Waldorf Hilton; Barclays events raise £32k for Leeds Mencap

The pub chain Greene King has has raised £3m over the past five years for Macmillan Cancer Support through fundraising events including cake sales, raffles, quizzes and donating a percentage of the sales of its desserts.

The next campaign the company has planned is Miles for Macmillan, in which the company’s 43,000 employees plus customers will be invited to walk, run, bike or swim enough miles to reach the moon – a quarter of a million in total. The challenge will include a team climbing Mount Kilimanjaro.

The homeware retailer Wilko has raised £1.3m for local and national charities in the year to the end of April, it has announced.

The company smashed its target of £1m through staff fundraising, with employees at Wilko’s 402 stores, two distribution centres and head office taking part in sponsored walks, bike rides, bake-offs, charity football matches, body waxing and more.

Charities that benefited from their efforts included the Alzheimer’s Society, Cancer Research UK, Macmillan Cancer Support, the Children’s Air Ambulance, the Children’s Hospice Association Scotland and East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices.

The Masterclass Trust, an education charity run by London’s Theatre Royal Haymarket, has announced a partnership with the Waldorf Hilton hotel.

In 2015, the hotel, with the Hilton in the Community Foundation, raised more than £17,000 for the Masterclass Trust, which helps young people into creative industries through apprenticeships, workshops and support from industry professionals.  

Guy Hilton, general manager of the Waldorf Hilton, said: “It’s vitally important for us to give something back to the community and we’re very much looking forward to embarking on this new partnership.”

Branches of Barclays in Yorkshire and north-east England raised £32,500 last year for the learning disability charity Leeds Mencap through events including a corporate golf day, a rowathon and a sporting dinner.

The money will go towards supporting very young children with learning disabilities at the charity’s specialist playroom.

Dawn Spencer, business manager at Barclays, said: “Barclays has supported Leeds Mencap for years, but last year we reached a whole new level.”

She said the business was keen to support the playroom because it was crucial that very young children with learning disabilities received early intervention support when they most needed it.

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