Smart Fleet Solutions has raised more than £6,000 for local community groups and its 2019 charity partner just three months into the year.
The business – one of the UK’s leading vehicle refurbishment specialists – runs a community engagement programme designed to make a positive contribution to the areas in which it is based. Under the scheme, employees at its four technical centres in Wiltshire, Staffordshire, Nottinghamshire and Scotland, along with its administrative office in Holmes Chapel, Cheshire, were all invited to nominate community groups they wanted to support.
One winner from each site was chosen at random, with a dance troupe, Brownie group, junior football club, amateur boxing club and a group for young people with special needs all receiving a £500 contribution.
Meanwhile Smart Fleet Solutions’ charity partner for the year DEBRA, which supports people suffering from the painful skin condition Epidermolysis Bullosa, or EB for short, has benefited from a number of fundraising events which have raised £4,000, while donations for the charity’s shops have also been sourced.
In addition, Smart Fleet Solutions has appointed ‘charity champions’ at each site who have been raising awareness of DEBRA and its work through a series of roadshows.
Theo Kortland, managing director of Smart Fleet Solutions, said: “I was invited to an event at which an EB sufferer give a heart-wrenching account of life with this condition and I later discovered one of my colleagues knew a family with a child living with EB, so we decided to make DEBRA our charity of the year. We’re aiming to raise a total of £10,000 during 2019 to help fund the building of a holiday home so that people with EB and their families can enjoy some time away – and we’re off to a great start!”
Jenny Jackson, business development manager at DEBRA, added: “We’re delighted that Smart Fleet Solutions has decided to make DEBRA its company charity during our 40th anniversary year. Our partnership will help to fund research into effective treatments and a cure for Epidermolysis Bullosa, as well as providing support for those suffering from the condition, which causes lifelong disability and pain – and can even prove fatal.”
