At the core of the Homewise team lies a certain set of natural values. This is not only demonstrated through how we work together as a collective, but with how we enjoy taking time to invest in causes that are close to our hearts.
This year, the charities we have supported have held a personal connection to our team. Some have resonated with particular individuals and their own experiences, whilst others have held the same values as Homewise, and the motivations that bring us together every day.
“Here at Homewise we’re committed to causes affecting the older community and, having spent time volunteering with Time to Talk Befriending myself, I can’t think of a greater way to support our community in Worthing.” – Mark, Managing Director - Homewise
From August to November alone, our small but mighty team have raised over £1160 by “wearing it pink”, holding raffles for sought after prizes, seaside litter picking and eating far too much cake. Anything for a good cause; especially where a Victoria sponge may be concerned.
The charities we’ve had the joy of fundraising and taking time to support this year have included, Breast Cancer Awareness, Macmillan with our ‘great Homewise Bake Off’, the Meningitis Research Foundation and supporting our local area by sending out teams to clean litter from Worthing’s wonderful beach. We managed to clock over 32 hours of volunteering time dedicated to improving our local environment. Can you beat it?
As we round up the year, our team have been involved with initiatives and fundraising for AgeUK and Time to Talk Befriending. With the fantastic force of our individual staff members and from those who represent our corporate partners, we have made up the ultimate fundraising team.These two charities are really important to us and our local, older community. As a company, we work very closely with all of our customers and we understand that this time of year can be difficult for some, especially surrounding the issue of loneliness and health.
Time to Talk Befriending is a local Sussex-based charity that we have previously rallied behind, having raised over £5000 for their champion efforts. Their vision to bring about a sense of community and alleviate the isolation felt by many is nothing short of inspiring.
As we are continually in support of their endeavours, the office was divided into teams during December, aiming to achieve one central mission. The mission, for which we all chose to accept, was to fill a Christmas hamper full of everyday essentials as well as a few festive surprises. Among the items we collected were chocolates, cheese, traditional favourites, CDs, home comforts and the much loved, trusty stock of English breakfast tea.
This week, our office elves have been out and about hand delivering these parcels to several members of the local community who Time to Talk Befriending matched our teams with.
The charity selected members from their scheme, who are based in our local community, for us to provide these gifts to and enjoy some company with; over a cup of tea and biscuits of course. These older members of the community are in their 90s and will be sure to benefit from the visit just as much as we loved seeing them.
Whilst we have hopefully brought a little bit of sunshine to the Worthing coastline, Time to Talk Befriending have spoken about how the volunteers are just as likely to benefit; we can certainly confirm this. Learn so much more about this fantastic charity directly from Emily Kenward, founder of Time to Talk Befriending, in the video at the bottom of this page.
“For many older people loneliness is an unwelcome feeling of loss. Loneliness is proven to cause early loss of life which is why services like ours are needed to help elders to feel connected with their community.
Maintaining friendships and remaining active are two key factors to improving wellbeing in later life. We therefore cannot advocate befriending enough!” – Emily Kenward, Founder - Time to Talk Befriending
Age UK, who follow the same footsteps as Time to Talk Befriending, and who share many of the same visions as us, have recorded some staggering figures regarding the older population in 2019.
Roughly 1.7 million older people may often see an entire month pass by without being in contact with a friend. Further to this, roughly half a million of those will experience loneliness over the festive period.
In the hope of tackling these issues in any way we can, we’ve also been raising money through our office festive fundraising day. Some might say ugly, some say sparkly, but we’ve been donning a myriad of funky looking Christmas jumpers and eating even more food – we just can’t stop.
With different initiatives going on throughout the office, we hope to have not only brought about awareness to issues such as these but to have also spread a little bit of Christmas joy.
We have always been huge advocates of volunteering, and we’d love to see what you might have been getting up to over the past year. Why not share your pictures, stories and fundraising efforts with us over on our Facebook page?
As well as working together as a team to fundraise, support and raise awareness any way that we can, there have been many events run throughout the year. With the fantastic force of our individual staff members and from those who represent our corporate partners, we have formed the ultimate fundraising team, showing no bounds.
This amazing collective total ran to £1365, supporting causes including St Barnabas, the Rainbow Trust, Action Medical Research, Martlets Hospice, and that’s to just name a few. We can reveal that the efforts of our in-house teams and donations made to our partners, whether raised by staff or donations made directly from Homewise, have resulted with a fantastic £2525 raised in 2019. Elated is quite the understatement.
“We’re undeniably and constantly impressed by the efforts of everyone in the Homewise team. Working together to achieve something that is always fantastic, is every bit a part of our culture. Let’s keep it up for 2020.” – Mike, HR Manager - Homewise
It is echoed throughout the entire team that charity events and workplace opportunities such as these are equal parts fun as well as working towards a greater achievement; with more cake surely on the horizon we won’t be stopping anytime soon.
We’re always proud to take part, and implore you to check out some of the charities that we’ve dedicated some time to this year. Perhaps it will inspire your own event?
Keep up to date with our efforts as we head into the New Year and expect to see more from the team here at Homewise by signing up to our monthly email newsletter, and following our social posts on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
Interview with Emily Kenward during The Big Blind Run Challenge of 2018