Santa, the song says, is keen to find out just who has been naughty and nice. If that is indeed the case, then there are many Plymouth businesses that will be in his good books. During one of the most challenging years for the economy these city firms and organisations stepped up and not only worked hard for themselves, their staff and customers, but also helped out others. So a big hand for all these kind-hearted Plymouth businesses...
Plymouth Business Charity Ball
A week after the August 2021 fatal shootings in Plymouth, best friends Paul Montgomery and Agata Kalend-Łuszczyńska decided to hold a ball for businesses to raise money for the victims and families of the tragedy.
A Facebook message went out at 8.30pm and by 1.30am all 300 seats for the event at the Crowne Plaza hotel had been sold. A committee was quickly set up consisting of friends including Annette Laurie, Lauren Rogers and Michael Mann.
With only 11 weeks to prepare and a target of £20,000 to raise, the team worked hard to obtain prizes to be raffled and auctioned, create a logo, make table plans, collate the money, invite VIPs, find staff to work and volunteer companies in to ensure the evening worked well.
Plymouth MPs Luke Pollard and Johnny Mercer agreed to attend, but at the last minute, Mr Pollard was called to Glasgow for the COP26 summit. Nick Kelly, leader of Plymouth City Council, filled his space and gave a rousing speech at the event before the auction.
Many companies stepped up to help, including JH AV, which provided the lighting, sound and screens which transformed the ballroom into something special; Eddystone Media, Blooming Buds Florists, which paid for and made beautiful centrepieces for each table; PL7 Studios, which provided the arrival photos and a donation towards the fund; Santander 海角视频, which provided staff to run the raffle and also provided £2,500 towards the end total; Street Factory, which arranged a dance routine which delighted the audience; Top Secret Magic, which provided magic tricks at the tables; UpArt Photography; which made photos public on the Facebook page Plymouth Business Charity Function; and the party band I Love Amp, which provided entertainment.
Former ITV news anchor Alexis Bowater was the auctioneer, with the auction raising almost £14,000. Prizes included sketches donated by artists Brian Pollard and Ed Waite; a pair of Tom Daley’s trunks, worn at the Tokyo Olympics; an original painting by Emelie Hrydoruk called With Brave Wings, I Fly which raised £3,500, as did a an afternoon cream tea with Plymouth TV star Dawn French.
The entire event raised £35,000 - almost double the original target, and Mr Montgomery, the master locksmith who runs the Sir Fix-a-Lock business, said: "I must express our gratitude to the business community for what we have achieved together. Plymouth truly did come together."
Enginetuner
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Enginetuner, which has been operating since 1983 but only for the past year under its current managing director, completed a "cars and coffee" event raising money in support of St Luke’s Hospice and has also been working with Derriford Hospital to donate a Christmas tree and decorations to the children’s ward. The firm also made a donation to a children’s charity in Dorset of £500.
Enginetuner, based in Valley Road, Plympton, has become one of the 海角视频’s foremost specialist providers of performance engineering services including engine builds, workshop services, parts supply, dyno tuning and custom fabrication for any type of car.
It also offers servicing, repairs, MOTs, suspension alignment and diagnostic work for all brands and ages of car and has customers across the 海角视频 and Europe.
Womble Bond Dickinson
As part of a continued firmwide, national initiative to tackle food poverty in the 海角视频, the Plymouth office of law firm Womble Bond Dickinson (WBD) made a significant donation to the Plymouth Foodbank.
WBD donated and delivered more than 150kgs of food and drink to the foodbank, ensuring the provision of more than 100 meals during the Christmas period and staff spent time on site helping to sort and coordinate the distribution of food parcels.
The firm also provided financial support to the foodbank, made up of personal staff contributions as well as donations from the WBD Foundation.
The firm placed an additional £250 online food and drinks order which will provide a further 64 meals to the community throughout the festive period.
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WBD has a long record of supporting foodbanks and, in recent years, donated well over six tonnes of much needed food and drinks through the WBD National Foodbank Appeal, an initiative set up by the firm to support 海角视频 foodbanks particularly during the winter and summer holidays. In 2020, the firm donated £30,000 to foodbanks across the 海角视频.
CMO Group
After launching its campaign at the beginning of the year, Plymouth-based online builders’ merchant CMO Group has already reached the half way mark in its quest to create a forest of 5,000 trees in its local area – with more than 2,500 trees set to be planted in the new year.
The launch of the construction products and DIY e-commerce specialist’s new charitable and environmental initiative CM Grow has seen staff, suppliers and customers all coming together to help CMO fulfil its pledge to plant about two acres of trees within two years.
Through a combination of fundraising and donations, the company is well on its way to raising £30,000 which will be used directly to support the tree planting, with more than £15,000 already secured.
The charitable and environmental campaign has been inspired by CMO’s desire to reduce its own carbon footprint whilst also improving the natural landscape and air quality of Plymouth where its head office is based.
With many of the local woodlands being felled for development during the past few years, CMO is now encouraging other businesses to support the campaign by raising funds and awareness.
The company has also made it easy and simple for customers to support its worthwhile cause by making donations when placing online or telephone orders.
To help realise this ambitious goal CMOStores.com, is partnering with Trees for Cities, the only 海角视频 charity working at a national and international scale to improve lives by planting trees in urban areas.
Chris Kallis Solicitors
The Peninsula Medical Foundation Charity Ball raised £30,020 in October. The driving force behind the event, entitled La Dolce Vita and held at the New Continental Hotel, was Chris Kallis of Chris Kallis Solicitors. He said: “The support we get every year for this event is humbling and it’s a credit to the city of Plymouth that we can all come together to support the important work of the foundation.”
The Peninsula Medical Foundation is an independent charity, which fundraises for medical research and education carried out in Plymouth - whether it is for equipment or direct support for the scientists and their teams.
The charity’s patrons and trustees - all with strong connections throughout Devon and Cornwall - are united in their determination to support quality research being conducted locally into brain tumours and other deadly conditions such as Parkinson's disease and dementia.
Various building firms
Dozens of businesses have pledged to help spruce up Plymouth’s YMCA building - but even more are needed.
The charity, thought to be the oldest in Plymouth, is calling for assistance from the business community during its Pledge to Paint weekend in April 2022.
The centre, in Honicknowle, is undergoing a £1m renovation, but is relying on goodwill and donations from businesses to help out with the upgrade.
And although it has recently opened a new gym and immersive cycle studio, it still has much work to do at the 1970s building. So it is calling on businesses to get involved on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, April 8, 9 and 10, 2022.
Among firms that have already stepped forward are Mitie, BLKC Decorators, LTC Group 87 Ltd, Homes for Students, The Focus Training Group, Plymouth Community Homes, Peninsula Medical School and Rabart Decorators Merchants Ltd.
Sarah Newberry, fundraising and corporate sales lead at YMCA Plymouth, said: "We'd like to give a huge thank you to all the generous businesses who have so far kindly pledged to paint areas of our centre. We're aiming to breathe some life into parts of our 1970s building which is used by thousands of people in our community each year."
Any business that can help is asked to contact Ms Newberry at sarah.newberry@ymcaplymouth.org.uk or by ringing her on 01752 761000.
Specsavers
Young rugby stars at Ivybridge Rugby Club U15s received backing by the Specsavers Plymstock store after lockdown brought their season to a halt.
A new kit for the players was paid for by the store and has the Specsavers logo on the shirts. Kirsty Irving, store manager at Specsavers Plymstock, said it was important to help grassroots sports for young people, especially after the pandemic limited so many group opportunities for them.
She said: ‘The under-15s are a great group and we at the store are glad to help them. They really enjoy themselves when they’re training and playing, and there’s some real talent among them.’
The number of children and young people exercising in England dropped significantly during the pandemic, with many activities unavailable.
Novum Law
As Remembrance Sunday approached specialist law firm Novum Law, based in Plymouth, reinforced its commitment to the military community by signing to the Armed Forces Covenant, which aims to remove barriers faced by members of the armed forces community in accessing public services.
The pledge acknowledges those who serve or who have served in the armed forces, including regular and reservists and their families, should be treated with fairness and respect in their communities, the economy and in society.
By signing the Armed Forces Covenant, Novum Law vowed to uphold the covenant’s key principles: that no member or former member of the armed forces should face disadvantages compared to any other citizens, and acknowledges that in some circumstances special treatment should be afforded, particularly for the injured or bereaved.
Rebecca Brisley, associate solicitor at Novum Law, who is married to a former Royal Marine who served for more than 22 years, said: “We’re tremendously proud to join the growing ranks of businesses and organisations signing up to the 海角视频 Armed Forces Covenant. It is an honour to help and support armed forces personnel and veterans as part of our ongoing commitment to treating all individuals with kindness, fairness, and respect."
Plymouth College of Art
Digitally fabricated signs designed by creatives in a workshop led by Plymouth College of Art’s Smart Citizens Programme have been installed in wildflower meadows across Plymouth, celebrating and protecting these important areas of urban re-wilding.
Co-hosted by Plymouth City Council’s Green Minds project, which is leading a number of re-wilding activities across Plymouth, the workshop supported participants to combine new computer aided design (CAD) skills with their creative talents to design nature-inspired signs. The signs were then laser cut at Fab Lab Plymouth and installed in 24 locations around the city.
During the workshop, students, young people and members of businesses developed new skills in digital design, learning about the process of laser cutting and how to use the 2D design software Inkscape.
Drawing inspiration from nature for their designs, participants created fun drawings and messages to raise public awareness about Plymouth’s wildflower meadows and their importance.
Far from un-mown grass, the re-wilded meadows planted by Green Minds are vital to support the biodiversity of the city, create new habitats for wildlife and inspire citizens to connect with nature.
EMR
Plymouth-based metal recycler EMR has joined with Plymouth Children in Poverty to support the charity in its aim of eradicating poverty within the city.
The company, based on Faraday Road, donated £1,000 as part of EMR’s Young Futures Reimagined programme, which was used to allow more young people to take part in the National Citizens Service Summer School.
The annual project prepares young people for the adult world, helping them build their independence and develop key life skills. On completion they are provided with a certificate which can be used to support applications for college and university.
Plymouth Children in Poverty, run by the Plymouth Drake Foundation and partners, offers a number of meaningful projects and interventions with the aim of overcoming child poverty.
The aim is to assist young people through childhood to adulthood and into employment, improving health and wellbeing by raising aspirations, self-esteem and confidence.
Foot Anstey
Foot Anstey LLP attended the University of Plymouth's 2021 Law graduation ceremony to name one student the Most Enterprising Law Graduate 2021– an award it has sponsored for a number of years.
Holly Parker, first class honours graduate from University of Plymouth in law, received the accolade from Debbie Moors, early careers specialist at Foot Anstey.
The Plymouth-headquartered law firm offered Ms Parker work experience. Upon receiving the award, earlier this year, Foot Anstey welcomed the 2020 winner, Plymouth born Ayesha Faraj Al-Nuaimi, to its offices for work experience. She has now secured a permanent role with the firm as a paralegal in the commercial property team in Plymouth
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Ecclesiastical Insurance Group
A charity based in Plymouth will receive a £10,000 windfall as part of Ecclesiastical Insurance Group’s annual Movement for Good awards.
First Light South West Ltd is one of 301 charities chosen by a panel of judges that will benefit from the money. The fund will allow the charity, which supports adults and children recovering from domestic abuse and sexual violence, to kick-start its new project, Tell Me – a volunteer led listening and mentoring service providing on-going regular support for victims of domestic abuse.
Each of the £10,000 awards are designed to help charities make a real difference in their communities. Applications were assessed against four key areas; impact and effectiveness, sustainability, innovation, and care and compassion.
Persimmon Homes
A homeless support group is to benefit from a £1,000 donation from the community charity scheme operated by leading regional housebuilder Persimmon Homes Cornwall.
The Plymouth Soup Run is a community and faith driven organisation providing free food and drink services for homeless, hungry and vulnerable people in and around the city.
Operating seven days a week, 365 days a year, the service also supplies sleeping bags, emergency clothing and toiletries to those who are in need.
Each month the Launceston-based builder donates up to £2,000 to community groups across the region. This also happens across Persimmon’s other 31 operating areas, meaning up to £64,000 is dished out every month – a total of £768,000 a year.