What do you think? From emerging trends to the latest business principles, Furniture News is setting out to gauge the trade’s feelings on a variety of industry-specific topics. Today, we’re asking: What do you do for charity?
Paul Wray (Modern Outlook Furniture): I support the British Heart Foundation and am sponsoring a company in the UK who help this charity
Steve Adams (Mattress Online): We are corporate sponsors of both the Sleep Charity and Zarach. We also make ad-hoc charity donations to local and national causes throughout the year
Andy Stockwell (Gardiner Haskins): As a community business, we support local charities and usually choose a new cause to support each year. Personally, I’ve cycled John O’ Groats to Lands End for charity, and also Washington to New Zealand in four days. I was due to kayak 137 miles in six days along the Thames this year, but had to postpone it – we’re due to set off on July 24th to raise funds for MIND, the British Lung Foundation and Parkinsons UK. I have no shame at all in saying if anyone wants to sponsor me for these very deserving charities, please contact me via LinkedIn
Dids Macdonald OBE (ACID): I started One Step at a Time for The Furniture Makers’ Company to raise awareness about our charity – the current master has taken this forward with Step 2 It, and is doing amazingly
Royce Clark (Grampian Furnishers): I’m on the local Cash for Kids board, and this is the main charity the business supports (we prefer to support local charities discreetly)
Mike Murray (Land of Beds): Each year we ask our staff to nominate two charities that they’d like us to fundraise for throughout the year. These charities usually have a local or personal impact on our staff or their families. We then go on to support these worthy causes for 12 months
Mike Whitman (Iconography): I’m heavily involved in running an annual event that raises money through raffles, an auction and games over a long weekend in August. Last year, despite the lingering effects of the pandemic, we were able to raise £10,000, which was split between MIND and the Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation
Huw Williams (Toons Furnishers): Toons regularly makes contributions to many small local charities, including the local foodbank. I feel it is important to give something back to the community you trade in. I am the treasurer for the Royal British Legion in our area, and over the years I have raised over 30k for Macmillan Cancer Support through various sponsored events
Peter Harding (Fairway Furniture): Personally, I have been involved with various charities over my 25 years in the business. As a business, we support a range of charities and organisations each year, and encourage our team members to get involved locally by supporting them with materials, prizes for raffles, donations, etc
Rob Walker (Orbital Vision): We buy our milk for the office from a local farm which we sponsor
Steve Pickering (Sussex Beds): Since 1993 I have produced and directed a Gang Show in my home town of Hastings. This annual event brings together over 120 local members of the Scout association aged 6-18 who perform in this variety spectacle in front of audiences in excess of 2000. The show provides life experiences for all those involved, builds confidence, and creates friendships and great memories to take through life
John Conroy (Morrisofa Europe): I’m a member of The Furniture Makers’ Company, and also support the Newcastle West End foodbank where I can
Wendy Martin Green (Peter Green Furnishers): With a long Covid year behind us, I don’t think we would be alone in saying it was more difficult for us to support charities in the way we’d normally wish to. That said, our charitable works have continued to be community based, with a number of successful events in our coffee shop plus sponsoring a tiny local radio station during the pandemic that was struggling to survive. I’m a member and supporter of the local Rotary Club, and in a more informal way we give draw prizes and lend our vehicle with a crew to those neighbours in need. Individual team members continue do their part too, with our MD Mike Devey recently completing a 26-mile trek that raised over £1000 for the Alzheimer’s Society
This article featured in the May 2022 edition of Furniture News magazine.
