Member Article

Business breakfast behind huge £1million donation to charity

A successful business networking company born in the North East is the catalyst behind a record-breaking £1 million donation from St. James’s Place Foundation to the Percy Hedley Foundation.

Fund raiser for Percy Hedley Foundation, Danny Mitchell, an enthusiastic member of Network B2B for nearly 10 years, is a member of the Team Valley Network B2B group and was introduced to Financial Adviser Mark Beverley who is the North East Representative from the St. James’s Place Foundation, over an early morning Network B2B breakfast meeting in Gateshead.

As Chair of the Team Valley Network B2B group, Mark was highly impressed by Danny’s energetic and creative fundraising skills. He was also moved by the superb work that the Percy Hedley Foundation does in the region and the crucial role the charity plays in improving the lives of children with physical disabilities in the North East.

This huge £1m donation from St. James’s Place Foundation - the largest in the Percy Hedley Foundation’s 63 year history - will help the charity to consolidate Percy Hedley School into one site with a purpose built junior school to be built next to the upper school. This will transform the learning environment for disabled children and grow capacity by up to 25%. The money will also go towards development of vital new facilities which include the creation of a residential home for young people with profound and multiple learning disabilities.

Alex Gordon, Managing Director of Network B2B says: “Network B2B regularly facilitates valuable business leads worth hundreds of thousands of pounds in our meetings, but this huge donation from St. James’s Place to The Percy Hedley Foundation is unprecedented. We are very pleased to have provided the initial introduction.”

“Network B2B has grown by 40% in the last two years because of the great results we generate for people and we now have hundreds of members all over England and Scotland, as well as in the North East, where we started out. Our Network B2B breakfast, lunch and evening meetings are fun and informal, but ultimately they’re highly effective in generating hundreds of leads, new business and interest as this massive donation demonstrates!”

Leading North East coach and mentor David Cliff MD of Gedanken Ltd, met Danny thorough Network B2B and has been offering Danny “pro bono” mentoring support to develop his work. He said: “It has been a delight to see Danny develop as one of the most effective fundraisers in his field and this accomplishment with St. James’s Place is part of a consistent track record of success. I have been delighted to have contributed to his work and I am so pleased with this success”. David, who also worked with Alex Gordon on refining the Network B2B model added: “Network B2B is an excellent way for small businesses to develop, gain leads and a variety of support as one evolves in business. Its consistent approaches, sensible methods and balance of cost and expectations on members make it a real winner in business networking”.

Danny Mitchell, Fundraiser from Percy Hedley Foundation says: “I’m totally passionate about the Percy Hedley Foundation and throw myself into my work 150% but I think this is definitely a career high for me. This is an enormous boost for the Percy Hedley Foundation! I’m so happy for everyone – for the children who will benefit from hugely improved facilities, for their parents and carers, and also for all who are involved with the Foundation. We’re very grateful to St. James’s Place Foundation and also to Network B2B for introducing us - and I for one just can’t stop smiling!”

Mark Beverley, North East representative of the St. James’s Place Foundation says: “We are delighted to have formed a partnership with The Percy Hedley Foundation. They have a fantastic team who work hard at educating, supporting and caring for children and young people whose lives are challenged by disability.”

For more information about Network B2B and how you can join, please go to www.networkb2b.co.uk. For more information about the Percy Hedley Foundation, go to www.percyhedley.org.uk .To find out more about St. James’s Place Foundation or consult an independent financial adviser, go to www.sjp.co.uk.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Kate Slater .