After a challenging few years, it’s safe to say many of us have a far greater appreciation for the importance of fundraising and community involvement.
With inspiration from the likes of Captain Tom and the many others who set themselves challenges or performed good deeds during, and indeed after, the pandemic to raise money or awareness for important causes, lots of us are taking the initiative to organise our own fundraising activities.
In anticipation of several major upcoming charity events including Movember and Children in Need, we wondered what our local businesses liked doing to give back to their community.
There’s no denying that it’s useful to have a knack for making money to succeed in business, but it turns out the Welsh ICE community also put their expertise to good use when it comes to charity fundraising. Digital Marketing Specialist, Patrick Valentino, gets involved both with local collective charity events and his own personal challenges.
Patrick said:
“It’s great getting involved with all of the fundraisers here at ICE – 130 miles cycled, 121 hours of continuous gaming, writing children’s books… All of these are great projects that raise funds for charities of critical importance.
“From a personal fundraising perspective, I did Movember in honour of a family member in 2018 and it was such an emotional experience I haven’t fully shaved since!”
patrick valentino, WELSH ICE
As well as taking part in general fundraising activities, it also seems that community members offer their business’ services and skills to make a difference too.
Photographer Jon Plimmer said he sets aside time purely for charity work:
“I do offer discounted work hours to charitable or worthwhile causes. I’ve completed work for Migrant Help, Make a Smile, My Discombobulated Brain and others. There’s a set number of “charity hours” I can give for free and, going forward, as I look to employ and grow the business, I’d like this ethos to continue.
“If staff find a cause they believe in and feel they can do some good, I’d like to thoroughly support their endeavours to help.”
Jon Plimmer, GSD MEDIA
Copywriter Samantha Dix added:
“I spent some time volunteering after the first Covid outbreak as a telephone befriender making calls to people in the community feeling lonely and vulnerable during the pandemic, which was really rewarding. A completely different experience to that was recently completing a 10-mile Tough Mudder course for Prostate Cancer UK, which is going to become an annual event!”
Samantha dix, paperclip pr
For Rebecca Elley, this kind of work has now become central to her career. The Charity Fundraiser said:
“I’ve worked in the charity sector for many years and it was my experiences within the sector that inspired me to start Support Your Cause UK which is all about helping charities raise money! I’ve just launched an online marketplace for charities to sell their fundraising items and I also design, make and sell items on behalf of smaller low-income charities.”
REBECCA ELLEY, SUPPORT YOUR CAUSE
Thanks so much for your comments, everyone!
Members featured in this article
