To mark EH Smiths’ 100-year anniversary in 2022, we launched our biggest ever charity fundraising campaign!
Following a staff survey, we decided to partner for the first time with a national charity: Teenage Cancer Trust, who provide life changing care and support to young people, so they don’t have to face cancer alone.
An ambitious challenge was set to raise £100,000 and volunteer 100 days in our 100th year.
“Charitable giving has been an intrinsic part of our corporate DNA for the last 100 years, and never more so than this year. We are proud of how our staff have worked together with customers and suppliers to bring about what has become the greatest achievement of our centenary year.” - John Parker, CEO
Spectacular results!
The results exceeded all our expectations: -
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Reached the £100,000 target in just six months
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Raised over £220,000 throughout the year
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Over 140 members of staff volunteered days for charity
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A companywide team effort which involved every department, branch and locations
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Wholehearted involvement and closer engagement with customers and suppliers
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A massive boost to corporate pride, individual confidence, and team morale!
A massive companywide effort!
Everyone got involved - The Challenge created a real ‘team spirit’ as each branch and office were eager to get fundraising and encouraging customers and suppliers to get involved.
Charity Trade Days gave each branch a specific day in the year to focus on raising money through various activities, such as car washes, golfing challenges, darts competitions, cake sales etc.
Suppliers showcased their products and provided raffle prizes or donations such as 50p for every pack of wipes sold via our supplier Tembe, raffle prizes from Tobermore, Keylite etc.
The Lighthouse Construction Charity attended trade days as part of their ‘Help inside the hard hat’ campaign where our customers could get help and advice with everyday challenges. Over 300 customers stopped for a chat or seek help.
EH Smith Charitable Trust also donated 30p for every bulk bag sold in branches with matching a 10p carrier bag charge to customers, with all proceeds again going to Teenage Cancer Trust.
Trade Counter initiatives
Staff involved customers at the trade counter in charity initiatives such as plant sales, raffles, Mini Football leagues, competitions.
Other staff events
Branch staff also held their own events outside of the trade counter, such as: Golf evenings, marathons, head shaves, mountain climbs, bike rides, bucket collecting, cake sales etc. Including a self-organised quiz and curry night by one branch manager which alone raised over £1,800.
Overwhelming Staff involvement
The enthusiasm was enormous as over 200 members of staff took part in one or more fundraising event
Fundraising events
Fundraising events included: 10k steps a day in March, a muddy obstacle course, half marathons, 10k runs, skydives, Aston Villa Play on the Pitch, Snowdon by Night Mountain climb, Coast2Coast bike ride, London Marathon plus much more.
As well as Teenage Cancer Trust, staff raised funds for other charities that were important to them such as Mind, Cancer Research UK and RNLI.
Volunteering
Part of the challenge was to achieve 100 days volunteering. Staff got involved with a whole host of activities from collecting unwanted Christmas Trees for St Mary’s Hospice and collecting donations at a Teenage Cancer Trust event to volunteering at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games, with many more to come. All volunteering days were supported by the company giving each member of staff at least one day paid volunteering.
Long term benefits
Events brought staff together with colleagues from different branches and departments. Others involved employees putting themselves outside of their comfort zones and individually achieving things they had never dreamt they could do. The effect on personal and team development has been significant.
This sense of pride, achievement and fun brought together staff at all levels across the company and united them in a real enthusiasm to continue and to do more for charity.