Supporting Charities
One thing that the coronavirus pandemic has shown us is there are still plenty of kind and generous people about, writes Kim Dodd, Account Director.
I have been humbled by the way people across the country have shown kindness and support to their communities. From coming together every Thursday to clap for carers to setting up groups that offer support to the elderly or vulnerable, it has all helped to keep people smiling during these unprecedented times.
Over the last few months I have really enjoyed being able to support many community initiatives that are helping to raise money for worthy causes and bringing communities together. These are some of my favourites;
MonsterHero Safari
This story-trail will be running in over 100 BIDs across the UK this summer, with the aim of bringing life back into the highstreet through a safe and fun family experience. We partnered with Martin Blackwell at the start of May to assist with his ambitious project which aims to raise over £100k for NHS Charities Together.
Lock it With Love
This month will see the launch of the Lock it with Love in Colchester that will see 12 giant letters placed around the town to spell out ‘In Colchester’. The public are encouraged to show their appreciation for the NHS, loved ones and special people in the community by writing a personal message on the padlocks and attaching them to the letter. The campaign is also raising money for Colchester & Ipswich Hospitals Charity. It has been great to work with Colchester BID to get this initiative up and running and we cannot wait for the launch.
Community Mask Tree
This fantastic initiative saw the Colchester community come together and make face masks, which were hung on trees and sold to raise money for charity. The Colchester ‘branch’ of the Community Mask Tree, raising money for the local food bank and women’s refuge. We worked with the group to provide them space in Culver Square shopping centre for a pop up tree to bloom, where they raised just under a £1,000 to add to their total which currently stands at £7,775 but is growing daily.
Send a Smile
During Mental Health Awareness week we ran a postcard service giving people the opportunity to send messages to their friends and family that they were unable to see, to spread happiness during lockdown. The postcards were free to send but there was an option of making a donation to local mental health charities and the initiatives raised £200.
2.6 Challenge
As a team we took on the 2.6 challenge and raised money for our chosen charity, Suffolk Mind. The team took on various challenges including walking 26 miles, running 26km, scoring 26 goals, listening to 26 Disney songs while doing 26 sit ups, 26 press ups and 26 star jumps, the list goes on. We raised just under £500 for Suffolk Mind and had lots of fun doing it.