The Saffery office in Peterborough have selected a local charity, Families First, as a chosen charity this year.
Families First, based in Peterborough, support children and young families through open access play in community settings. They also offer meals and snacks and support people taking work opportunities.
Since working with Families First, Saffery raised £382 from a combination of cake baking during the King’s Coronation and hosting an Easter egg hunt in the office. The team is already planning another event – a Halloween themed bake off. At the end of the year, Saffery will present Families First with a lump sum from all the fundraising activities that were undertaken throughout the year.
In addition to raising funds, Saffery colleagues took part in the annual fun day for children and parents on 25 August which Families First hosted. Several Saffery members went along and played football, pool and engaged in activities with the children. The weather was fantastic and there was even a bouncy castle and hot dogs!
Additionally, on 30 August, a few Saffery colleagues went to the Families First offices to help paint the office to give it a fresher look and feel, as well as assisting in gardening. After clearing the overgrown garden, the charity will now be able to have a vegetable patch which the children will tend to when they next visit for their wellbeing activities with nature.
Below are some comments shared by the Saffery volunteers:
“The day was really fun and it was great to see all the local kids playing in such a great environment. It was an incredibly rewarding day, I enjoyed playing football with the kids – giving just a day of my time made sure that their summer holidays were that much better! I think volunteering is better than donating because you can see first-hand how much it means to the kids involved.” Matthew Willis
“I loved it! The day was great and we got to spend it outside helping a local charity. At the end of the day the charity approached us and were so incredibly grateful for both events and have welcomed us back again next year!” Charlie Powell
“I thought it was a very nice day and my preference is to give my time over money because I feel like I am having a direct impact whereas I wouldn’t necessarily get to see where the money goes. In this case the photos show the positive impact I had on the charity from some of the before and afters” Kate Clark
Saffery will be supporting Families First for one year before selecting a different local charity to support, which will be conducted by office vote in December.
