Charity of the Year
As a company, one way you can help St Michael's is to make us your ‘Charity of the Year'. John Goodwin Estate Agency did just that and this is what happened:
Established in 1981, John Goodwin Estate Agency is a general practice firm offering a professional service for residential and commercial sales and lettings based around the border areas of Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Gloucestershire.
2006 saw the business celebrate its Silver Anniversary; for founder John Goodwin it seemed the ideal opportunity to use a landmark year positively. The business wanted to raise funds for a local charity and St Michael's ticked all the right boxes, many of their clients and some members of staff had had involvement with the Hospice in some form or another.
Anniversary fundraising started in January that year with enthusiastic and unanimous support from staff. The first major event the business took part in was the Hospice's annual Fun Run. A team of 20 comprising staff and their families entered representing over 50% of the workforce and they raised over £4,000. Sponsors and donors were encouraged to pledge generous amounts knowing that John Goodwin had agreed to match the amount of money raised. John Goodwin commented, "The day was an excellent start to our fund raising activities and created a good feeling of team spirit which spread across each of our four offices."
The fundraising had many benefits other than just in terms of team building. It gave members of staff the opportunity to become involved in different roles throughout the organisation, and helped to provide everyone with a different sense of purpose.
The firm arranged a Golf Day at the Worcestershire Golf Club, Malvern and they also held a silver anniversary party at The Downs School, Colwall. In common with many businesses, John Goodwin found that one of the main challenges of pledging support to a charity such as St Michael's is coming up with appropriate fundraising ideas. However it is not something that has to be faced alone; the Hospice Events & Community Fundraising Team is always ready to help with ideas or provide support and is just a phone call away.
In reviewing the experience John Goodwin commented, "I believe our clients, colleagues and supporters responded so positively because they have felt that celebrating a business anniversary is such a worthwhile way of raising funds for charity."
If you would like to make St Michael's your Charity of the Year or would like further information on fundraising in your organisation, please call Ruth Denison, Head of Fundraising on 01432 851000 or email her at rdenison@st-michaels-hospice.org.uk