Drivers Direct on: Charity of the Year
Every year we select our charity of the year, it’s a decision that is given careful consideration as all our employees throughout our 21 branches can offer their nominations for a worthy cause. Having supported the Victory Services Club in 2017, this year we chose the NSPCC, whose excellent work is nationally recognised.
Our main fundraising came from our annual charity ball, with every attendee making a donation and we held a raffle to help raise further funds. £1,000 was raised from the night alone which was then generously Increased to £2,500 by our Managing Director, Gethin Roberts.
NSPCC stands for the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children and protecting children is their sole purpose. As an independent organisation, they rely on the public to fund their work.
NSPCC fundraising manager Janette Drew commented on being selected as our Charity of the Year: “We’re thrilled to have been selected as Drivers Directs Charity of the Year and would like to thank the staff who nominated us showing their support for our work for vulnerable children. Every penny raised for us helps us be there for children when the need us the most, whether it’s through Childline’s around the clock service, teaching children to stay safe through our schools service, or receiving support from our centres.”
The NSPCC focuses on a number of aspects of child protection, from support for new parents and babies, to working with mobile brand O2 to make families safer online by delivering online safety workshops to parents and offering advice. The charity also offers support to victims of abuse who are giving evidence in court, campaigning for a better system for child witnesses.
The organisation also provides the secretariat for the All Party Parliamentary Group for Abused and Neglected Children (APPG) – this is a crossbench groups of MPs and Peers and their sole purpose is to raise the profile of child abuse and neglect in parliament. The meetings are held in Westminster and involve inquiries with professionals, academics and frontline staff to focus on the key issues of child protection, as well as investigating policies and upcoming areas of legislation. In 2016, the APPG held an inquiry on therapeutic support for children, focusing on the mental health of children in care and the best practices for delivering support.
We’re so proud to have picked the NSPCC as our charity of the year, they carry out their work in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. We admire the work they do and how they make it their one mission to protect children the children of the UK. It is certainly a worthy cause that we wanted to get involved with, as the organisation are essentially supporting the children of the future. If you would like to find out more on how you can support this great cause in your country, you can visit their website.
