Raising awareness at every opportunity
Earlier this year, Rachel Gardner became qualified as PVC’s Mental Health First Aider, and she certainly hit the ground running. Along with raising awareness through Cycle to Work, Stoptober, Stress and Anti-bullying initiatives, Rachel led Hello Yellow fundraising efforts on World Mental Health Day in support of Young Minds. The team at PVC wore yellow t-shirts and a grand total of £121.55 was raised through an activity involving ‘Bat the Rat’ (pretend rat!).
A combined team of PVC and Community Gateway employees joined forces to help raise money for Preston’s homeless. The Big Sleepout at Preston North Ends’ Deepdale stadium was held in conjunction with The Foxton Centre, a Preston-based charity, to raise money for the purchase and renovation of a local house that will be used to provide a safe and secure location for Preston’s homeless. Participants were asked to bring only the bare essentials to the sleepover, with the event designed to provide a small insight into the many hardships surrounding local people sleeping rough.
With over 300 people taking part in the event, the team from PVC and CGA did exceptionally well; raising more than £3,500 for the charity so far. The initial target of £50,000 has now been surpassed, with more than 2,500 individual donations being made in total.