Companies across Suffolk have shown their generosity to the county’s charities – to the tune of £150,000 in the last 18 months alone.
These are the latest findings from Suffolk ProHelp, a scheme run by Community Action Suffolk and partnering professional firms with causes and voluntary sector organisations who need specific help.
The expertise and input provided by the various companies has ranged from legal and financial advice, to building consultancy, HR services, engineering assistance, marketing, and longer term strategic planning or resolution.
Suffolk ProHelp has supported 48 voluntary sector organisations during that particular period, ranging from village shops to arts projects, and scout groups to village halls.
Stephen Beales Chair of Suffolk ProHelp said; “Making a difference to communities is an intrinsic part of responsible business. Through Suffolk ProHelp we believe we have greater potential to help build resilient and thriving communities and effect social change.
“The professionals involved gain through enhanced reputation, staff development and networking and, of course, through the satisfaction of giving back to their local community.”
An example of our membership is Mackman marketing and branding agency, which is based in Sudbury.
The company has recently been supporting Adventures Offshore, a sailing charity which provides opportunities for young people and vulnerable adults to discover their sense of adventure and gain valuable skills.
Paul Mackman said: “We are proud to have been an active member of ProHelp for over 15 years.
“We have many approaches each year to provide pro-bono support to very worthy causes. Marketing is one of the business disciplines in which the third sector often lack expertise or resource. It is very regrettable that we can’t help everyone, although we do try.
“Last year Mackman donated in excess of £70K worth of services to benefit community groups and charities. Adventures Offshore really stood out and impressed us in terms of the quality of their team, their offering, impact to young people and quite frankly how hard they were working. Mackman are delighted to be making Adventures Offshore one of our main recipients of pro-bono brand development and marketing support for 2019.”
Adrian Slim from Adventures Offshore said: “Our initial session with marketing experts from Mackman lead our trustees through a challenging process of examining the core beliefs of our long established charity.
“It has ensured that the whole management team are focussed on the same values. Paul has been a pleasure to work with, he has helped us focus on our core objectives and articulate what we offer as an organisation in a clear and understandable manner.
“We cannot thank the team at Suffolk Pro-Help and Mackman enough for offering us this wonderful opportunity, and we are looking forward to seeing how much more we can achieve with the backing of the Mackman marketing team.”
Angela Lee-Foster, who manages Suffolk ProHelp, added: “Professional expertise is often out of the reach of many community organisations in Suffolk yet essential to their development.
“The generosity of firms involved with the scheme has made a significant impact and contribution in Suffolk. Going forward we are looking to see how the wider business community can support our work by sponsoring us making us less reliant on grant funding.”
Photograph
Taken & Owned by Mackman Group
Image from left to right: Judy Harrison, Ed Harrison, Steve Roberts (from Adventures Offshore), far right James Royce (from Mackman).
