Tis the season for giving back

Christmas is the season of joy for many, but for those less fortunate the festive season can be one of sadness and fraught with difficulties.

There is no better time than Christmas to take the opportunity to help those who need it most and at Anthony Gold we are proud to have taken part in a number of local initiatives to help those in need locally to our offices and also further afield.

Wrap Up London

Earlier in November, staff from each of our offices kindly donated several bags full of second hand coats for the Wrap Up London campaign and hand delivered these to the volunteers based at London Bridge station – so many bags, it needed two members of staff to carry them all! Doing our bit to help keep Londoners warm this winter.

Community Christmas

In keeping with the spirit of giving, we also took part in the Team London Bridge Community Christmas Campaign. Over 50 gifts were donated across our three offices, and delivered to Team London Bridge offices on 5 December for wrapping and donating to local residents via a number of local charities, being Bede House, Manna Centre, Stones End Day Centre, South London Cares, CoolTan Arts, Time and Talents, Beormund Centre, Camberwell After School Project, Riverside Parents and Carers Association, Look Ahead Southwark Young People Service, Salmon Youth Centre, South London Mission and Oasis Waterloo.  We were overwhelmed with the number of amazing gifts donated by our staff, which will go a long way towards making someone’s Christmas that little bit more enjoyable. One member of staff also went above and beyond to purchase a number of items which had been specifically requested by local charity South London Cares as part of the A Really Happy Christmas campaign. South London Cares is a community network that connects older neighbours in Southwark and Lambeth with younger professionals who help to support them. They requested brand new thermal slippers, blankets, and flasks for their Winter Wellbeing project, which our member of staff kindly purchased, much to the charity’s delight. The Team London Bridge Community Christmas Campaign was their most successful yet, with the focus on quality over quantity, yet also seeing over 1700 presents donated, and we look forward to become more involved in this campaign in future years.

Save the Children Christmas Jumper Day

On Friday 15 December 2017 we held our last national charity day fundraiser of the year in the office, proudly taking part in the Save the Children Christmas Jumper Day campaign to help save children’s lives. The money raised could help give a child living in a refugee camp clothes to keep them warm through winter, buy nutritious food and safe drinking water for a family, or set up a safe space for children caught up in disaster. It is a very worthwhile case, and we made a real difference just by wearing silly jumpers and getting in the festive spirit in advance of our Christmas party! We are still counting the final amounts raised but have so far raised just over £277.

Christmas Carols with the Robert Poulton Foundation

And lastly, on Tuesday 19 December 2017 the Anthony Gold choir joined forces with singers from the Robert Poulton Foundation to perform everyone’s favourite Christmas carols in Hays Galleria during their lunch break. The Robert Poulton Foundation was set up by Phillipa Poulton in memory of her late husband who sadly died following a car crash in 2012. Anthony Gold became involved with the Foundation following the successful completion of a personal injury claim by Jenny Kennedy and her team. The firm has raised money for this charity ever since, through various events, and we enjoy getting together at Christmas to sing carols for such a good cause. We raised over £140 this year, not bad for spending an hour singing during lunch, and a fabulous time was had by all involved, tempting the crowds away from their last minute Christmas shopping to enjoy the performance.

This was a great way to end the year, and we are already looking forward to our calendar of CSR events lined up for 2018 – watch this space!

* Disclaimer: The information on the Anthony Gold website is for general information only and reflects the position at the date of publication. It does not constitute legal advice and should not be treated as such. It is provided without any representations or warranties, express or implied.*