Member Article

Leeds colleagues' 'Give & Gain' day for charity

Bewonder* ’Give & Gain’ event brings smiles to Leeds Children’s Charity

Dozens of children from across Leeds enjoyed a fantastic day of outdoor fun at Lineham Farm this week, when colleagues from marketing agency Bewonder* held their annual ‘Give & Gain’ event.

More than 20 staff left their laptops and phones behind and swapped a day at the office for a day working with local youngsters at the farm and children’s centre which provides much needed respite breaks and activity holidays.

As part of JLL’s national effort supporting ‘Give & Gain’ – the global initiative where businesses support employees giving over a day to volunteering – colleagues at the City Point–based agency went back to nature on Friday, accompanying groups of children orienteering and learning about bush craft during the day of outdoor activities.

“Every year we try to do something a little different for Give & Gain,” said director Kaye Walker, Head of Bewonder*. “Leeds Children’s Charity does incredible work, helping to create happy childhood memories for the neediest of families from across the city, and we thought it would be terrific to work with them and do something for local children.”

Working with the charity, the Bewonder* volunteers took 36 children from the region to Lineham Farm Children’s Centre in Eccup, where they spent a fun day learning everything from how to make a shelter and go orienteering to how to build a fire and tackle a fantastic outdoor obstacle course.

“It was absolutely brilliant to see the children have such a good time,” said Kaye. “They really enjoyed the various activities, and of course getting to see some to the animals at the farm up close.

“Working in groups, we also helped with some of the essential groundworks at the farm,” said Kaye. “From weeding and digging to clearing rocks for a new play area project, everyone worked incredibly hard but the smiles on the faces of the children at the end of the day made it all massively worthwhile.”

In order to fund the day’s activities, members of Bewonder*’s marketing, PR, design and social media teams embarked on a series of fundraising activities, including a sponsored sky-dive and an auction to shave the head of one brave colleague.

“We raised more than £1,500 from colleague and supplier donations and sponsorship beforehand,” said Kaye, “and we gave each child on the day a goodie bag which had been kindly provided by our suppliers too. This year’s Give & Gain day was a huge success, and we’re grateful to everyone who lent their support to us.”

Dave Norman MBE, Director of Leeds Children’s Charity, said the event had been a ‘brilliant’ day. “All of the young people enjoyed the day and the Bewonder* team were fantastic,” he said. “They all worked very hard and were very supportive to the young people.

“I’d like to thank the entire team for all of their hard work in the run up to the event, and also during the day itself.”

For more information about the work of Leeds Children’s Charity or to make a donation, please visit www.leedschildrenscharity.org.uk

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Andy Dickens .