First Leicester Giving Day Hailed a Success

The first ever Leicester Giving Day, including the Giving Day Gala, which took place on the 18th November, has been hailed a roaring success by everyone involved. 

 

More than a 120 people attended the prestigious event which took place at St Martin’s House and Conference centre to round off the first ever Leicester Giving Day. 

 

Established by Embark CSR to promote partnerships between business and charities, the day involved more than 100 organisations from the public, private and voluntary sectors. 

 

The Gala Evening saw the announcement of the four Community Impact Programme winners and four Leicester Social Responsibility Award winners. 

 

Community projects Eko Joe, Butterfly Beacons, FSD FC CiC and LCFC in the Community competed alongside 25 more applicants to win support for their ideas to benefit local communities. 

 

Social Responsibility Award winners were Cambridge and Counties Bank (Socially Responsible Business of the Year), for their unstinting support of the National Space Centre’s Ignite community engagement programme; the Shoe Zone and Young Leicestershire partnership (Business & Charity Partnership of the Year), which helped sustain support for young people during and after the Covid-19 pandemic; Bid Leicester and the Homelessness Charter (Innovation in Social Responsibility), for its work in raising funds to tackle homelessness in the city, and Lindzi Mayann (Social Responsibility Newcomer of the Year)for her work in developing new approaches to support people with ADHD. 

 

Gala evening attendees were able to listen to presentations from Chris Shaw and Stacey Wragg (Leicester Giving Day founders), Professor Paul Baines, Deputy Dean at the University of Leicester Business School, and Richard Osborne, Chair of the Leicester Business festival CiC. 

 

All welcomed the establishment of a Giving Day for Leicester, and stressed the generosity of everyone involved, especially at such a difficult time for the local economy. 

 

Earlier in the day, five community hubs were open at Soft Touch Arts, Highcross Leicester, Old Moses Cabin, The Zinthiya Trust and St Martin’s House and Conference Centre which showcased the work of local charities and socially responsible businesses. There were also a wide range of events taking place elsewhere promoted by business and charity partners which were designed to highlight a number of important issues including sustainable textiles, road safety for young people and support for bereaved parents. 

 

A unique feature of the day was the gift by Sandicliffe Ford of one of its new E-Transit vans which Leicester Giving Day personnel used to pick up food donations for local foodbank, Wesley Hall Community Centre. 

 

The Leicester Business Festival (LBF) handed over the final day of the festival to the Leicester Giving Day and all events taking place on the day had a philanthropic theme. Richard Osborn, Regional director at Excello Law, Chair and a director of the LBF Community Interest Company (CiC), said: 

 

"Thank you to Chris Shaw and Stacey Wragg from Embark CSR for making the first ever Leicester Giving Day happen, a success and a truly unique part of the Leicester Business Festival (LBF). The day provided a philanthropic way for businesses to engage with the festival and shone the spotlight on those who make living and working in Leicester even better. 

 

“The gala awards evening and ceremony was the perfect way to close this year’s Business Festival celebrating and acknowledging the special commitment from businesses. Here’s to even more people getting involved next year!" 

 

Stacey Wragg, Embark CSR Director said “The success of Leicester Giving Day was down to the organisations and individuals that embraced the concept. We are delighted with how year one has turned out and we are already planning for how we can make 2023 bigger and better for everybody involved.”