Children’s Hospice South West’s Business Club, which was launched during the worst of the pandemic, is inviting Bristol firms to join up ahead of its next in-person meeting and help it raise a vital £90,000 this year.
The club supports the charity in helping make a difference to young people with life-limiting illnesses and their families. Last year also marked the charity’s 30th anniversary.
The club’s first meetings had to be staged virtually – but still attracted widespread interest as businesses across Bristol continued to support good causes.
Some 100 businesses joined within a year, each contributing £300 and, in return, getting opportunities to build connections, raise awareness of their company and, crucially, support the hospice.
Now the club is seeking a further 300 businesses to join – 100 for each of its three hospices.
As well as offering networking opportunities, membership also includes access to exclusive in-person events.
Having staged its first in-person event last November at Bristol concert venue St George’s, its next will be at The Harbour Hotel on Corn Street on March 9, from 3-5pm.
Children’s Hospice South West (CHSW) corporate partnerships fundraiser Amanda Gallagher, pictured below, said: “We have been delighted by the number of businesses who joined the club in 2021 and have re-joined in 2022.
“I think this demonstrates the value provided by being a member. Due to high demand, we’ve increased the number of memberships available for 2022, which allows 300 businesses to join from across the South West.
“The sooner companies sign up the better as they will be able to take advantage of the many benefits on offer.”
In line with other charities, CHSW suffered a sharp fall in income when the pandemic hit, but it also affected its relationship with its business supporters.
It needs around £11m a year to run its three hospices – including Charlton Farm hospice at Wraxall, near Bristol – around 85% of which is raised through voluntary donations.
Amanda recalled how the landscape changed almost overnight. “Before the pandemic, we’d enjoyed working face-to-face with companies – large and small – from across the South West in a variety of ways,” she said.
“Our corporate charity partners were coming on to our hospice sites to take part in volunteering days, we were running successful in-person events sponsored by local businesses, and staff teams were enjoying the opportunity to assist our shops by volunteering on ad hoc days.
“In March 2020 it felt like almost instantly the rug was pulled from under our feet and we could no longer do any of those things.”
This sea change, which affected all facets of the charity, prompted fundraisers to look at new ways of sustaining income and maintaining mutually beneficial relationships with corporate partners.
Amanda said: “We had to be innovative and think outside of the box. We asked, how can we continue to make and foster the businesses relationships we’ve made in a meaningful and mutually beneficial way?”
And so the CHSW Business Club was born. Despite the new economic climate, businesses remained committed to giving back to the communities they felt part of. Membership enabled them to continue to do this.
Among the founding members was Bristol-based specialist finance firm National Friendly Financial Solutions (NFFS), which also chose CHSW as its charity of the year.
NFFS PR & strategic partnerships executive Kurtis Reece said: “We couldn’t believe the response!
“The club paved the way for like-minded companies, who were also in a state of flux, to come together and share ideas and strategic thinking.
“CHSW offered them a platform to navigate their way through an unpresented situation, whilst also meeting their corporate social responsibility objectives.”
For more information about the CHSW Business Club 2022, visit www.chsw..org.uk/businessclub
