It has been a tough start to 2022.
The crisis in Ukraine, an economy ravaged by the pandemic and surging living costs are weighing on a lot of people's minds.
Despite the challenges, many businesses across the West of England are stepping up to help. Companies across the region are finding ways to give back, either in their local communities or further afield.
It’s not just big corporates getting involved in doing good either. There are plenty of smaller businesses striving to make a difference.
We have decided to shine a spotlight on just some of the firms that are restoring our faith in humanity. In no particular order...
Do you know a nice business from the South West that deserves to be recognised? Email hannah.baker@reachplc.com for a chance to feature in our BusinessLive newsletter.
Stone King, Bath
The Bath-headquartered law firm has donated £10,000 to the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) appeal in aid of Ukraine.
The donation comes from the firm’s charitable arm, the Stone King Foundation, and was made following the Russian invasion which has left millions of people displaced.
Managing partner Steven Greenwood said: “We have all been moved by the terrible events taking place and want to support this worthwhile appeal in an effective way as possible.
“We urge fellow businesses to do the same and note that our Government has matched donations up to £25m.”
C & D South West and Hippychick, Somerset
Haulage company C&D South West and baby business Hippychick recently joined forces to support the delivery of aid to Poland for people fleeing the war in Ukraine.
They are supporting an initiative spearheaded by local Meg Hawkyard who has already organised a collection of supplies and is working with friend Faye Savage, an ex-pat who is based on the ground in Krakow, to supervise the distribution of the items to those in greatest need.
C & D South West provided Hippychick with a dual-branded curtain-sided trailer and a full tank of fuel in order to get urgent aid across to Ukraine.
Jeremy Minchin, Joint managing director at Hippychick, volunteered to drive the loaded van out to Poland, supported by Mrs Hawkyard’s husband Craig.
Randall & Payne, Gloucestershire
At the end of 2021, the Cheltenham-based firm of accountants and business advisors announced it had raised £18,000 for neonatal charity Scoo-B-Doo.
In January, the company, which is the headline sponsor of the GloucestershireLive and BusinessLive Business Awards, partnered with Maggie’s Cancer Care, supporting the Maggie’s centre in Cheltenham for the next two years.
Randall & Payne’s first fundraiser was the Maggie’s 50-mile Challenge. Ten of the team pledged to run 50 miles in January (500 miles combined) including managing partner Tim Watkins; tax partner Rob Case; audit director Ryan Moore; and others from accounts, audit, management services, admin and marketing.
The firm smashed its target by more than100%, completing a total of 1,072 miles combined - the equivalent of running to the most northern Maggie’s centre in the UK which is located in Inverness and back again.
Between the team’s Just Giving page and the individual fundraising pages, the company raised £1,353 from this first fundraiser - or £1.25 per mile!
Dyson, Wiltshire
Since 2002, the James Dyson Foundation has supported local initiatives to Dyson’s Malmesbury Innovation Campus. Last year, this included 1,000 school laptop donations and 1.5 tonnes of food for Malmesbury Foodbank.
The charity donated SolidWorks software and robotics equipment to Malmesbury School in 2021, to “excite” pupils about engineering.
Dyson employees also collected and donated 4,660 items to the Malmesbury and District Foodbank for the school summer holiday period, totalling 73 boxes to be distributed to families across the area. This was supplemented with funds from the foundation, which were used to buy additional food items to fill the packages.
In 2022, the foundation is continuing its local community fund, providing small financial donations and Dyson machines for fundraising purposes, to charitable causes within a five-mile radius of Malmesbury and that fit within the charity’s remit – engineering education, medical research and local community support.
Pavers, Devon
The Pavers Foundation, the charitable initiative of family-owned and run Pavers, has donated £1,000 to Malborough Amateur Dramatics Society (MAD).
The donation was made on behalf of Claire Tapper, office coordinator at Herring Shoes (a subsidiary of Pavers) who is the volunteer director of the society.
The £1,000 donation was used to purchase technical equipment including microphones and a monitor, which the society said were “intrinsic” in producing The Wizard of Oz.
Ms Tapper said: “This grant means the absolute world to everyone, it was so good to be back in the theatre after Covid, thank you so much for making this possible.”
In the summer of 2021, the Pavers Foundation announced it had reached a £1m donation milestone.
Galliford Try, Somerset
The construction company, which is delivering the A303 Sparkford to Ilchester scheme on behalf of National Highways, is sponsoring a local motorcycle race team in 2022.
True Heroes Racing, based out of Yeovilton, is the UK's first and only motorcycle race team dedicated to supporting wounded, injured and sick UK Service personnel and veterans.
Operating since 2012, it aims to offer a renewed sense of direction, improved social skills and exposure to new experiences and technical skills for like-minded people with UK military backgrounds.
Chris Hill, project director for the A303 Sparkford to Ilchester scheme, said: “What True Heroes Racing has achieved to date is brilliant – long may it continue.”
To date, True Heroes Racing’s achievements include having the first double amputee to compete in national level British Superbike motorcycle racing and numerous national award nominations.
ALD Automotive, Bristol
ALD Automotive donated £10,000 to Bristol & Weston Hospitals Charity.
The car-leasing company has been supporting the charity since the start of the pandemic in 2020 and has donated a total of £30,000 to the NHS charity for University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust (UHBW).
The firm also donated 2,500 disposable car seat covers for NHS staff and 13 crates of books for children being treated in hospital.
The money raised by the charity’s Covid-19 appeal has been used to support staff in the areas hit hardest by the pandemic, including improvements to staff areas and electronic tablets so patients can keep in touch with their loved ones.
It has also provided a three-year programme of wellbeing support to help NHS staff, including staff counselling, group sessions and a 24-hour support line.
Stewart Warr, CSR manager at ALD Automotive, said: “We are pleased to be able to support our local NHS staff, who never deviated from their commitment.”
Barratt Homes and David Wilson Homes, South West
The South West’s largest housebuilder has donated £50,000 to charities across the region, including Bristol food, health and community projects, to mark the start of 2022.
Barratt Homes and David Wilson Homes, which are building hundreds of new homes across the South West, are giving £10,000 each to five charities that are important to their staff and support their local communities.
One of the charities it is supporting is FoodCycle which provides hot food and support for people on low incomes across the country including Bristol.
Staff working for the David Wilson Homes South West and Barratt Homes teams, based in Bradley Stoke, South Gloucestershire, chose Sarcoma UK as one of the beneficiaries in memory of a colleague who lost their life to Sarcoma cancer last year.
As well as FoodCycle and SarcomaUK, other charities benefiting from the donations will be Dementia UK, Kids Out and Devon-based charity Gilead Foundations. Each will receive £10,000 to help them continue their vital work across Bristol, Gloucestershire and the South West region.
Redrow, Devon
The housebuilder has launched a scheme to support youngsters keen to try out snowsports at the Exeter and District Ski Club.
Redrow South West celebrated its partnership with GB Snowsport by creating a £10,000 Winter Sports Fund to encourage local children, and youngsters’ groups and clubs, to take to their local snowdome or dry ski slope and try skiing or snowboarding for the first time.
The initiative aims to inspire the region’s GB Snowsport stars of the future and is open for applications from children aged four to 16, including groups such as Brownies and Scouts.
As well as taking to the slopes, winners are also in with the chance of learning from the pros themselves by enjoying a training session with a GB Snowsport champion, who will be sharing their skills on the snow and offering their advice for the next generation of youngsters looking to pursue a career in snowsports.
Sian Smith, sales director for Redrow South West said: “Now is a great time to learn more about the different snowsports, and to contribute towards GB Snowsport’s success by helping to inspire the next generation of winter athletes.”
Ellis Jones Solicitors, Dorset
Adventurous lawyers are stepping up for a gruelling 100km trek along Dorset’s Jurassic Coast in aid of former soldiers and their families.
A team from Dorset law firm Ellis Jones Solicitors is tackling the Jurassic Coast Challenge from Corfe Castle to Bridport on May 14-15.
All proceeds from the fundraiser are in aid of ABF The Soldiers’ Charity, formerly known as the Army Benevolent Fund.
Ellis Jones – with 21 partners and more than 160 staff in five offices – is supporting the team with training sessions, kit, supplies and registration fees.
There are 12 Ellis Jones team members taking part along with a support team. Senior associate solicitor Will Dooley and solicitor Conor Maher are joint team captains.
The 100km trek – 62 miles – takes in Swanage, Lulworth Cove, Durdle Door, Weymouth, Portland Bill and West Bay.
Team members will raise at least £300 each in sponsorship and have the choice to complete the 100km route over two days or 50k on one of the days.
The event is being organised by Action Challenge as part of its Ultra Challenge Series. Fundraisers for charities from across the UK are due to take part.
Owens Coffee, Devon
Devon-based company Owens Coffee took a part in Fairtrade Fortnight in March. During the two weeks thousands of individuals, companies and groups across the UK come together to celebrate the people who grow food in some of the poorest countries in the world.
On behalf of Fairtrade Devon, the company presented to young students at school conferences in Totnes and Ivybridge, as well as contributing towards the content of presentations at schools throughout Devon. As part of the BIG Brew Coffee Morning in February, Owens also spoke to other small businesses about the global scheme.
“We are delighted to have worked alongside the Devon Development Education (DDE) at their conferences, which gave us the opportunity to talk to young people and Devon businesses about the importance of Fairtrade coffee” said managing director, Lorraine Bridden.
Womble Bond Dickinson, Plymouth
Law firm Womble Bond Dickinson has supported one of its charity partners to continue to harness tech for the good of the local community.
The firm has donated a range of equipment to the community interest company (CIC) Our Plymouth to support its mission to develop digital capabilities to facilitate community action.
The charity received four desktop computers, monitors, keyboards and mice for their office at the Airport Business Centre.
The equipment was delivered to the charity in WBD’s new electric van, recently purchased by the firm as part of its wider ambition to be net zero by 2030.
Suzanne Gado commented: “It has been fantastic to be able to support Our Plymouth’s work on creating change through harnessing the power of technology.”
Network Rail, Devon
Network Rail has donated a kilometre of track and sleepers, plus five sets of points and four stop blocks to Devon-based Plym Valley Railway, supporting and preserving the volunteer-led local attraction.
The equipment, which was no longer used by Network Rail, was removed from Lostwithiel yard in Cornwall and offered to Plym Valley, a heritage railway that operates on what was previously known as the Launceston branch line, which opened in 1859 and linked Plymouth with Tavistock.
While the branch line was closed in the 1960s, a group of local rail enthusiasts set out to restore the line in 1982, with the first section from Marsh Mills to Lee Moor crossing opening as a heritage railway and local attraction in 2008.
The donation of the track and rail equipment means that Plym Valley Railway will be able to replace parts of its existing infrastructure, which was constructed in the 1980s, providing more space at Marsh Mills yard and sidings and enabling the railway to obtain and preserve further historical railway items in the future.
Persimmon Homes, Cornwall
A local vet charity is set to benefit from a £1,000 donation from regional housebuilder Persimmon Homes Cornwall.
The Plymouth PDSA Pet Hospital provides free and low-cost veterinary care to sick and injured pets across the region.
Scott Williams, who applied for the funding from the Persimmon Homes Community Champions scheme on behalf of PDSA, said: “We are grateful to Persimmon Homes for this donation as with no government or national lottery funding, we rely entirely upon public support and the generosity of individuals, companies and charitable trusts.
“This money will go a long way to helping much loved pets and their owners, many of whom find themselves in hardship and unable to afford vets bills.”
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 single month – a total of £768,000 a year.
Cavanna Homes, South West
Employees at West Country housebuilder Cavanna Homes have been supporting Children’s Hospice South West (CHSW) as their charity of the year since 2019 raising almost £32,000 to help towards the vital care of children with life-limiting conditions.
CHSW have three hospices across the region; Little Bridge House in Devon; Charlton Farm in Somerset; and Little Harbour in Cornwall. All of the hospices offer professional family support services including palliative and respite care.
During the firm’s first year of fundraising, a trio of keen cyclists from Cavanna’s head office in Torquay took part in the charity’s ‘Ride For Precious Lives’ challenge and cycled 205 miles across three counties raising over £3,000.
In the same year, the firm also hosted several bake sales, sporting events and dress down days to raise essential funds which totalled £15,000 at the end of 2019.
Like this story? Why not sign up to get the latest South West business news straight to your inbox.
