The Community Partnership Programme, which is just one aspect of the community support provided by The Cambridge, will see teams work with four charities in 2019, each for a three month period. Charities which aren’t selected for Partnership will be considered for other aspects of the community programme which include a donations initiative and an opportunity to be selected as the 2019 AGM beneficiary, where 25p is given for every member vote received. In April 2018 two charities were chosen because there was a tie in the voting and both Tom’s Trust and Clic Sergeant received £1,230.
Applications are invited from charities that operate within a 30 mile radius of Cambridge or national charities that can guarantee the funds will remain in the area. The application deadline is 22nd November 2018.
Two charities out of the four will need to be from the housing or homes sector while the remaining two charities are open to all.
At least four Team Leaders from across the business will be on hand to work closely with each charity partner to develop a series of exciting fundraising activities. These can range from cooking challenges to car washes via dance-a-thons. As well as fundraising the Partnership aims to raise awareness and provide hands-on support through volunteering hours. So far in 2018 around £9,000 has been handed over by The Cambridge and with the final Partnership and Donations scheme still ongoing this total is expected to reach nearly £14,000.
Head of Marketing Carole Charter said: “Supporting the community is something everyone at The Cambridge feels passionate about and the whole team gets to have a say in which charities are chosen. We’re proud to be able to help those who help others and it’s a privilege getting to know the charities we work with.
“This will be the third year of the Partnership programme and it’s been a huge success both internally and with the charities we’ve worked with. The aspect our people most enjoy is building relationships and really getting an understanding of the vital work the charities do. Devoting three months to each allows us to develop a really exciting calendar of activities to raise both awareness and funds as well as lend a helping hand in a more practical sense through volunteering our time.”
Wintercomfort was the first charity Partner for 2018 and from February through April activities included a sleep out, quiz night and golf challenge as well as funding of breakfasts to those using the charity during these months (pictured above).
Fundraising and communications coordinator for Wintercomfort Simon Pickering received a cheque for £3,000 on behalf of the charity and explained how valuable the support from The Cambridge had been.
He said “We really enjoyed working with the team at The Cambridge, their staff were here every week supporting us serving breakfasts and getting to know our service users. We were all really impressed with their commitment and the £3,000 raised will go a long way to supporting our work.”
Find out more and download an application form here or email marketing@CambridgeBS.co.uk