Centred around four key areas, enterprise, employability, the elderly and the arts, this is frequently delivered in conjunction with Forever Manchester funding panel.
In September 2017, I did an 11,000ft free fall sky dive in aid of The Christie Hospital. It was an amazing experience and something I had always wanted to do but to enter you are required to raise a certain number of donations. Having Brother UK' support, through match funding, my total was boosted to nearly £800, which will help fund life-changing and life-saving work for cancer patients at The Christie. This makes me very proud as it’s a charity and cause very close to my heart.
- Andrew Phythian, Maintenance
Our partnership with Forever Manchester continues with our corporate fund of £25,000, participation in Forever Manchester Week, support of Forever Manchester women network and Forever Manchester football tournament. These activities provide or help to raise funds and generate awareness of the community foundation and its work.
Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce presented us with their Social Value Award in recognition of all the hard work and time dedicated towards a great cause (Forever Manchester).
We have seen the huge benefits to be gained from working to achieve an Investors in People standard, so we now act as Investors in People champions, assisting other companies on their own journeys. One activity is supporting Royal Mail with their Graduate Programme. We provide business case materials and facilitators for a two-day workshop with their graduate intake. Participants have the opportunity to learn from learning and development company, Creating People, regarding learning techniques and problem-solving mind sets.
Care for the elderly is a cause close to everyone in the business and too often is underfunded and under-resourced, which is why we ensure this is a key criterion within our funding strategy. We’ve been supporting The Grafton Centre through funding and colleague volunteering.
Infinity Initiatives is a community interest company operating in Tameside. It supports vulnerable people with complex needs, who often don’t get support elsewhere. We supported them with a £500 cash donation (raised by using an e-Christmas card instead of physical cards).
Our involvement with the Hallé Orchestra spans 30 years. We have become more focused on their outreach work, and we’ve been investing and supporting their Impresarios Programme. This takes the business of performing arts and introduces it to young people who are tasked to “put on a show”, working out the business and marketing plans for their event. This year saw several colleagues supporting the event, providing business advice to the participants.
