The gift of giving: JH donate £3,200 to charities on behalf of our clients and partners
We all love receiving a corporate gift through the post at Christmastime – but do we really need another bottle of branded prosecco or coffee mug? And aren’t all our lovely couriers and postpeople more than busy enough at this time of year… delivering all our clients’ orders?! 😜
This year, we thought our clients and partners would appreciate a chance to give back instead. So – we offered to donate what we would normally spend on gifting to our clients’ and partners’ preferred charities.
After an amazing response from our clients and partners, we’re proud to say that means we’re donating £3,200 to 19 different charities this Christmas!
Our clients and partners chose a wonderful selection of amazing charities close to their hearts – and we thought it only right to share these worthy causes here on our blog.
We hope our donations help towards making 2022 a better year for people, animals and other organisations that need a little extra support.
Motor Neurone Disease Association (MNDA)
The MND Association focuses on improving access to care, research and campaigning for those people living with or affected by MND in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Find out more
Shelter
Shelter exist to fight for all those whose lives are blighted by the loss of their home – and all whose lives will be affected if things don’t change. Last year, they gave information, support, and advice to millions of people facing homelessness or experiencing bad housing. Find out more
Get Kids Going!
Get Kids Going! is a national charity which gives disabled children and young people the wonderful opportunity of participating in sport. They provide them with specially built sports wheelchairs so they can do athletics, marathons, tennis, skiing, curling, rugby, sailing, boccia, basketball, snowboarding, table tennis, fencing, shooting, archery, powerlifting and many more sports. They inspire disabled youngsters to compete in sporting events, from start to paralympic level, by also giving them sports grants to help with training, physiotherapy, sports psychology, travel, competition fees and the design and development of sports’ equipment. With your help and donations, many can become world record holders and paralympic champions! Find out more
Durham Foodbank
It’s a sad reality that many people have struggled to feed themselves and their families in recent years, and many of our clients and partners chose a local cause to support with their donation – including the Durham Foodbank. They don’t think anyone in their community should have to face going hungry – so they provide three days’ nutritionally balanced emergency food and support to local people who are referred to them in crisis. Part of a nationwide network of foodbanks, supported by The Trussell Trust, they are working to combat poverty and hunger across the UK. Find out more
Food for all UK
Another local cause chosen as a charity to support is the Watford branch of Food For All UK. This organisation takes fresh produce that would otherwise have gone to waste, and turns it into free nutritious and hot meals for the community, delivered where possible using emission-free bicycle rickshaws by a team of volunteers. They currently operate in 18 locations around the UK, helping organisations work towards several of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. Find out more
Bradley Lowery Foundation
The Bradley Lowery Foundation helps children who are fundraising for treatment or equipment they aren’t able to access through the NHS. This charity was established in August 2017 after six year old Bradley Lowery lost his fight to Stage 4 High Risk Neuroblastoma, a rare and aggressive form of childhood cancer. In 2013, his mum, Gemma, started a fundraising campaign to raise funds to get Bradley treatment in the USA, which was not available in the UK.
The campaign was very successful, and with the support of thousands of people, raised over £1.3m as well as vital awareness for Neuroblastoma and childhood cancer in general. These donations provided the funding base for the charity, which now supports children’s campaigns who are fundraising for treatment or equipment not yet available on the NHS. They do this by working closely with the family and their fundraisers to maximise their fundraising. Find out more
Micro Rainbow
Micro Rainbow’s vision is to create a world where lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer and intersex (LGBTQI) people are free from discrimination, persecution and have equal opportunities in life, including in accessing employment, training, education, financial services, healthcare, housing, places of faith, and public services. They do this by providing safe housing, facilitating access to employment, volunteering, training and education, and providing social inclusion activities to reduce the extreme isolation faced by LGBTQI people, asylum seekers and refugees. Find out more
Jamie’s Farm
Jamie’s Farm acts as a catalyst for change, enabling disadvantaged young people to thrive academically, socially and emotionally. Through a unique residential experience and rigorous follow-up programme, combining farming, family and therapy, they ensure vulnerable young people nationwide are better equipped to thrive during secondary school years and beyond. Find out more
Hounds for Heroes
Tissues at the ready, this one truly melted our hearts! Hounds for Heroes uniquely fully fund the whole lives of specially trained Assistance Dogs, to support disabled UK Armed Forces and Emergency Services personnel. In this way the provision of an Assistance Dog does not create a financial burden on the partner, making the availability of the help they offer as wide as possible.
Hounds for Heroes was founded by Allen Parton, who received serious head injuries whilst serving in the Royal Navy and any meaningful recovery appeared remote until he was befriended by a special dog by the name of Endal. The partnership that formed between Allen and Endal saw Allen make a quite remarkable recovery. Endal was voted ‘Dog of the Millennium’ and was awarded the PDSA Dickin Medal for bravery. Allen created Hounds for Heroes so that injured personnel from the military and the ‘blue-light’ services might receive the same help that Endal had given him. In his words “We owe them a great debt and this is our way of saying thank you”. Find out more
Mind
Over the last couple of years, so many more of us have struggled with our mental health, meaning Mind’s work is more important than ever. They provide advice and support to empower anyone experiencing a mental health problem, and campaign to improve services, raise awareness and promote understanding. Find out more
Save the Children
Working alongside children in 122 countries, including the UK, Save the Children have three big goals. Their ambition is that by 2030, no child dies from preventable causes before their fifth birthday, all children learn from a quality basic education, and violence against children is no longer tolerated. Find out more
Barnardo’s Children’s Charity
Barnardo’s began life as a ‘ragged school’ to help disadvantaged children in 1867 – but now they’re helping hundreds of thousands of children, young people, parents and carers across the UK. They don’t abandon children because of who they are or what they’ve done. They listen to them, fight for their rights and do whatever it takes to protect and support them – because they believe that all children have the right to a happy and healthy life. At a time when more young people need specialist help with complex issues like sexual abuse, mental health problems and serious violence, their work is more vital than ever. Find out more
Cancer Research UK
With 1 in 2 of us getting cancer in our lifetimes, it’s a disease that sadly affects so many of us – so we’re glad to see Cancer Research UK included in this list by our clients and partners. As well as funding scientists, doctors and nurses to help beat cancer sooner, this charity also provides cancer information to the public, to further our understanding and help people spot the disease early, increasing chances of recovery. Find out more
Mustard Tree
Mustard Tree helps people to change their lives, secure better accommodation and economic wellbeing. Their focus is on tackling both the causes and consequences of poverty and homelessness. Since 1994 they have created opportunities for people to help themselves through providing practical support, friendship, connections into work and improvements to health and wellbeing. They provide food and resources to help make a home through our Community Shops across Greater Manchester, and offer creative programmes to aid recovery and encourage aspiration. Find out more
British Red Cross
For 150 years, the British Red Cross has been helping millions of people in the UK and around the world get the support they need when crisis strikes. With a wide-ranging network of support, they provide everything from support with loneliness, to financial and medical support, to help with finding missing family or to refugees settling into a new country. Find out more
CALM
The Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM) is a charity united against suicide. That means standing up to stereotypes, and standing together to show life is always worth living. 125 lives are lost every week to suicide, and 75% of all UK suicides are male. They exist to change this – by provoking conversation, running life-saving services, and bringing people together so they reject living miserably, get help when they need it and don’t die by suicide. Find out more
Kidney Research UK
As the leading kidney research charity in the UK, Kidney Research UK has an urgent mission to end kidney disease. Over the past 60 years, their research has made an impact. But kidney failure is rising, as are the factors contributing to it, such as diabetes and obesity. Today, kidney disease affects three million people in the UK, treatments can be gruelling and currently there is no cure. Only research will end this and Kidney Research UK offers kidney patients and their families hope for the future. Find out more
Macmillan Cancer Support
Macmillian Cancer Support provide help to millions of people every year. Cancer doesn’t just affect people’s physical health – and at Macmillan, they won’t rest, and won’t settle for anything other than the best possible support for people with cancer. They offer emotional, physical and financial support to cancer patients from the moment they’re diagnosed – as well as support for their families and the healthcare professionals treating them. Find out more
A wonderful way to end 2021
We’re honoured to be able to support these charities on behalf of our clients and partners – and it was wonderful to see such a spectrum of causes close to their hearts included. If you have a little money to spare this Christmas, we encourage you to donate it to a cause that means something to you – whether that’s one of the charities linked above, or something else close to your heart.