Woodhead Group has committed to supporting two charities during its seventieth birthday year. Managing Director, David Woodhead and Finance Director Hilary Cheshire, chose to support The Prince’s Trust and St Mary’s Church in Edwinstowe throughout 2016. Both charities are set to benefit from a number of employee led fundraising initiatives throughout the year.
St Mary’s Church Edwinstowe, has strong links to the local company as David and Hilary’s father, who founded the company in 1946, was a bellringer at the church. The Church hopes to use the money raised to fund the installation of a new boiler, which will improve the building’s environmental performance.
The Prince’s Trust, was chosen due to its long-standing relationship with the construction industry and the support it provides for 13 to 30 year-olds who are unemployed or struggling at school to transform their lives.
Woodhead has set a fundraising target of £25,593, £1 a day for every day of the company’s 70 year history. With an aspirational goal to raise £40,000, which represents £1,000 for each of the 40 years The Princes Trust has been helping people.
Woodhead employees have already begun to support both charities by taking part in a series of team challenges. Teams are competing in a variety of events to see who can raise the most money for the charities.
Fay Paterson, Business Development Manager at Woodhead, said; “Supporting charitable causes is something that is particularly important to the Woodhead Group. The Prince’s Trust is very active in one of our industries, working with young people to provide work experience and qualifications to enable them to secure employment in construction. The team challenges provide a great way for us to raise money for two worthwhile organisations and the healthy competition between colleagues will hopefully help us reach our £1 a day target.”
Tony Evans, Vicar at St Mary’s Church, said: “St Mary’s Church is a big part of local life for both the young and the elderly in Edwinstowe. Our church is warm and bright and a very welcoming place for our community to congregate. As the boiler is coming to the end of its life, the kind charitable support provided by Woodhead and its employees will enable us to replace it with a new energy efficient model.”
John O’Reilly, Director for The Prince’s Trust in Central England said, “We are grateful for the support of Woodhead Group, whose efforts will help us to support more unemployed young people gain the skills and confidence they need to find work. We wish the team well with their fundraising endeavours, and look forward to celebrating their achievements over the year.”
The first team challenge has already taken place at Alderman Pounder School in Chilwell where Woodhead Education delivered a programme of works. The site team set up a breakfast kitchen, serving bacon rolls and cupcakes for pupils, parents and teaching staff.
Other events will include a swim-a-thon, golf day, a summer fair and a charity ball in September.
Pictured: Staff of Woodhead get behind the fundraising campaign