As 2023 draws to a close, we wanted to highlight some of the charities whose work we have been pleased to support this year:
Our official Charity of the Year 2023 is Bundles of Hope, a community based initiative in Long Eaton that partners with health professionals and social workers for the benefit of newborns and children. They provide baby essentials for expectant mums in need of support and provide a drop-in for families of older children to pick up clothes and other essentials.
We were delighted to welcome Bundles of Hope to our annual Summer Party held in June at Derbyshire County Cricket Club. They were able to share with us their vital work with young families in need across Derbyshire and Nottingham and hopefully it was a great fundraising opportunity for them as well.
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A small team of staff spanning all four EFN offices took part in two charity football tournaments with Business Fives 5 A side Events, a corporate charity sports events company. The EFN squad managed to reach the semi-finals at both the tournament in March and in August despite a few minor injuries! Funds raised by Business Fives and all those who took part have been donated to Bundles of Hope.
Well done Team EFN!
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We were also able to make a donation to Bundles of Hope of funds raised from our Bake Off Challenge. Each staff member taking part is assigned a Great British Bake Off contestant in line with the Channel 4 show and as a baker leaves the tent each week, the corresponding staff member bakes for the office. As the treats increase (along with our waistbands) so do the donations. This is the third year EFN have taken part in the Bake Off challenge and it is a hugely popular fundraising event.
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It’s that time of year again! Staff donned their favourite Christmas jumpers (and a couple of festive dresses and ties too) for Save the Children’s Christmas Jumper Day on Thursday 7th December, There were cakes and bakes a plenty available for a donation. A jolly day with one or two photo opportunities and all for an amazing cause, helping Save the Children help children stay safe, healthy and learning, and change the future for good.
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Sam from our Beeston office was our fundraiser of the year. In February, she undertook a sponsored skip to raise money for Cancer Research UK and managed 100 skips a day throughout the whole month! Sam’s fundraising didn’t stop there; she also held a Macmillan coffee morning at her home in October which several of the EFN staff attended.
Well done, Sam!
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Emma delivered a car full of tinned food, packets of cereal, dried pasta, pasta sauce and packets of biscuits for the Food Bank Appeal for Canaan Trust this month. During advent, this charity asks people to collect items, one each day if possible, creating a reverse Advent Calendar. They then prepare Christmas parcels to distribute in the week leading up to Christmas. This was an urgent appeal from them as they are struggling to provide food parcels to those in need and the charity is having to spend £1,100 a month just to meet the needs of the calls on its food bank service.
A massive thank you to Emma and her team.
It has been a privilege to support these charities in 2023. We would like to wish all of our clients and their families a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
