Member Article

Lord Mayor enjoys DePuy Synthes’ festive fundraising for local community

DePuy Synthes staff laid on Christmas lunch for 60 local pensioners last week, handing out Christmas food parcels and singing carols with 30 children from the nearby Hugh Gaitskell Primary School, as part of the company’s partnership with the South Leeds Live at Home scheme, which cares for vulnerable pensioners on low incomes in the area. In attendance were the Lord Mayor of Leeds, Councillor David Congreve, the Mayoress Janet Harper JP, as well as governors from the school, who were greeted by employees wearing Christmas jumpers in aid of the Leeds Liver Transplant Unit.

“It’s wonderful to see a company with such a long history in the area doing something for the local community in Beeston,” said Councillor Congreve.

“Christmas can sometimes be a difficult time for our most vulnerable pensioners, and events like this make a huge difference. I was really impressed by all the staff and their Christmas jumpers! It shows the pride that they have for the area and their desire to make a difference to local people’s lives.”

DePuy Synthes is approaching the completion of a significant refurbishment programme of their premises on St Anthony’s Road in Beeston, former site of Chas. F. Thackray Ltd, who first began manufacturing medical equipment in Leeds in the 1900s. The facility includes a new state of the art Research & Development Centre and modern, sustainable office design.

“We’re really proud of our heritage in Leeds,” said Kerry Seymour, from DePuy Synthes’ Corporate Social Responsibility Committee. “It’s hugely important to all of us in the company that we give something back to the communities in which we live and work. And with our new campus, we have a great opportunity to do more events like this that help our community come together.”

Local MP Ed Balls also got to experience some of the company’s Christmas spirit during his visit to DePuy Synthes’ Capitol Park site in Morley on Friday, where he toured the national distribution centre and spent time with employees also wearing their festive jumpers to support the Leeds Liver Transplant Unit fundraiser.

DePuy, who became part of Johnson & Johnson in 1998, has a long history in Leeds through Chas F. Thackray Ltd, a medical company established in Leeds in the 1900s and merged with DePuy in 1990. Following the Johnson & Johnson acquisition of Swiss medical manufacturer Synthes in 2012, the company changed its name to DePuy Synthes.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by DePuy Synthes .