“Darke & Taylor are everything I look for in a charity partner…and more! Committed, enthusiastic, generous and highly supportive.”
– Tim Wraith, Corporate Partnerships Manager at Sobell House
2016 – 19: The big picture
Over the past 4 years, D&T has raised over £21,820 from 38 separate events all in aid of Sobell House (*).
We have been part of an innovative scheme for local businesses called The 40 Club, whose the aim was to challenge 40 businesses to each raise £10k to fund a new building for Sobell House.
Some highlights of the largest amounts raised by D&T:
- Single event: £3,142, Race night (Sep-16)
- Multi-year event: £5,691, Oxford Half-Marathon (Oct-16 – Oct-19)
- Individual: £731, Lisa Holland (Apr-19), who ran the London marathon and was agonisingly close to breaking the 4 hour mark (4 hours and 3 seconds!)
2016 – 19: The devil is in the detail
“I would actually say the whole experience has been the highlight, rather than any one event.”
-Simon Newton, MD Darke & Taylor
It is important to stress that the point of entering into a multi-year partnership isn’t just repeating the big one-off events once a year. These each raise a significant amount of money for the chosen charity… but then that charity disappears from the sight and mind of the employees until the same time the following year.
It’s the frequent small events which are just vital in developing a sense of commitment to the charity over time and this, in turn, generates a greater sense engagement and well-being amongst the staff.
Highlights of ‘smaller’ events include:
- Individual second-hand sales & salary sacrifices by D&T employees – Matt Gordon, James Thompson, Ian Loades (a D&T supplier), Steve Hancock, I Bunning.
- Head shaving – in Dec-17, Callum (a D&T apprentice) raised over £800 having his head shaved.
- Dress down days – have raised over £550 over the past 4 years…surprising when you see how some of the D&T staff dress on their time off!
- Sobell House Xmas Card & Diary sales – have raised over £600.
Connected Excellence
“Over 90% of our employees live in Oxfordshire, so it makes sense to support a local charity such as Sobell House, particularly one that a large number of us have a close connection with.”
D&T’s support of Sobell House over these past 4 years has mutually beneficial – Sobell House have received more donations than they would have otherwise have done, whilst D&T staff have pulled together to show admirable resolve and ingenuity in more than doubling the £10,000 target they were set.
Hence, it reflects well upon D&T that we have stood up and been counted as a long-term charity partner, reaffirming our ethos of Connected Excellence in all we do.
About Sobell House (*)
Sobell House offers physical, psychological, social and spiritual care to those facing life threatening illness, death and bereavement. The focus is on quality of life, respecting the uniqueness of each person, and respect for the dignity of all users of the service.
-ABOUT US, website
