Paying it Back | Our Commitment to Making a Difference

Discover How Elite Group Has Been Supporting Good Causes

Whether it’s hosting a coffee morning with homemade cakes or taking on a charity skydive, both as a business and individually, we are committed to supporting charities and organisations that are close to the hearts of our team and the business as a whole. ESG (Environment, Social and Governance) forms a big part of our new vision and as part of our ESG initiatives, we have prioritised activities that have a positive impact within our local community and beyond. We recognise, not only the importance of supporting charities and good causes, but the benefits it holds for our company culture and our people.  We have taken part in a range of activities to raise awareness and money for both charities and community organisations. Find out how we have been doing our bit to make a difference in our local community and beyond

Our Values and ESG Commitments

In May of this year, we revisited our established values to ensure that they reflected our new Vision. We amended our fourth Value to compassion to better reflect our attitude towards each other within the team and our commitment to safeguarding and improving of the environment and our local community. Here’s how our current values contribute to our commitment to supporting community projects and charitable causes:

Teamwork

We know that together we achieve more than working individually. That’s why we regularly organise team events and initiatives, such as Macmillan coffee mornings, fundraising socials and fun activities in the office to raise money for good causes.

Hard Work

Our employee engagement platform, Workvivo, provides an environment where our team can share their charitable efforts and support each other to reach fundraising targets. Regularly seeing our teams achievements supporting organisations within the local community and for charity inspires and motivates us to do more, both as individuals and as a business.

Humility

We approach our charitable endeavours with integrity, without expecting anything in return.  We take part in charitable initiatives and activities because of our genuine desire to make a difference, both locally and nationally. Through our charity work, we are rewarded with the nurturing of meaningful collaborations and relationships within our local area and the fulfilment of making a positive difference.

Compassion

Our new value embodies our commitment to extending our care and empathy, not just to each other within the business and our customers, but also to the communities and causes both within the local community and those that are close to the hearts of our team.

Charity Fundraising and Donations

Raffles, coffee mornings and fundraising socials – as a business we’ve been involved with many different charitable initiatives for a range of good causes. Alongside making a difference in our local community and beyond, we’ve also had the opportunity to spend time together as a team and nurture our company culture further.

Charity Hampers – Bobbin Mill

Back in 2022, we joined forces with the local pub, The Bobbin Mill, to create charity hampers for a raffle in aid of Derian House Children’s Hospice in Chorley. This organisation plays a crucial role within our local community, providing care and support to children and young people with life-limiting conditions and their families. Our team donated loads of goodies, sweets and treats to create two huge hampers for the raffle, which took place in June 2022 and raised a lot of money for a really worthy cause.

Help the Homeless

Throughout November and December 2022, our team worked with the Bobbin Mill again to support Chorley Help the Homeless charity appeal. Chorley Help the Homeless is a small, independent, local charity that works hard to support those at risk of or are affected by homelessness in Chorley. The Bobbin launched an appeal for donations of items to support Chorley Help the Homeless’s appeal. We supported this appeal with the donation of supplies including food, bedding and other essential items. Our team demonstrated their generosity with the donation of many different products and supplies, as well as cash donations, which we used to shop for further items to add to the business’s donation.

Ukraine Appeal

In April 2022, we supported Stand with Ukraine St Helens, who set up an appeal to collect and transport goods to the Ukrainian border to help those whose lives were affected by the war. Stand with Ukraine St Helens (SWUSH) worked with around a dozen businesses, including Elite Group to collect donations of items, such as medications, food, water, clothes and other essentials. All of us within the business were devastated to see the impact of the war in Ukraine and as the business was originally founded in St Helens, we jumped at the chance to show our support and donate to SWUSH’s appeal. Once again, our team demonstrated their generosity through contributing a range of supplies, clothes, food, alongside a cash donation of a further £1000 donated to the SWUSH fund, which enabled 5 articulated lorries to travel to Ukraine with the supplies. We collected so many donations, we managed to make multiple trips to SWUSH and helped a lot of people who were in need in Ukraine.  

Macmillan Coffee Morning

Our team donned their aprons (or popped down to their local supermarket) to provide a range of sweet treats and cakey goodness for our Macmillan Coffee Morning. It was a great opportunity for us to take a break from our busy days and enjoy a brew, a slice of cake and a good chat, all whilst raising money for MacMillan Cancer Support. Macmillan Coffee Mornings have always been an important event in our calendar and this year we managed to raise £237.  Whether they were a Star Baker or a Star Faker, we appreciated everybody’s contribution to our coffee morning.

Cancer Research – Social Fundraisers

Having a cheeky tipple with work friends, whilst raising money for a very important cause – a win-win! At Elite Group, we love a social event, but we love them even more when they support a good cause. So far, we’ve had two social events, one at Revolution De Cuba in Liverpool and one at Lono Cove in Manchester, with funds raised from both events going to Cancer Research. In total, we’ve raised £780, so far for Cancer Research.

Charity Curry Night – St David’s Hospice

In March of this year, our team held a charity curry night at a local Indian restaurant, to raise money for one of our clients, St David’s Hospice. The hospice delivers free, high-quality, specialist palliative care to patients with life-limiting illnesses across Conwy, Gwynedd and Anglesey and provides support for their family and carers. Alongside coming together for a curry night, we also ran a raffle where our team could be in with a chance of winning a range of fantastic prizes, from chocolates to a bottle of their favourite tipple and vouchers. The funds raised from the curry night and the raffle totalled £1,500 for St David’s Hospice. Speaking about the donation, Commercial Director of St David’s Hospice, Margaret Hollings said:

“This really is a brilliant total.  £500 is enough to fund 20 therapy sessions for people visiting our day centres in Llandudno and Bangor which could be physiotherapy, art therapy, a spa treatment / complimentary therapy or bereavement support.  You and the team have helped us to provide care for a further three people in our day centre programme and more.  That’s pretty special isn’t it? Thanks to everyone involved and thank you for choosing us as your nominated charity, we really appreciate it.”

Nightingale House Hospice

This quarter, the business made the decision to support one of our customers, Nightingale House Hospice through in-office fundraising activities. Nightingale House Hospice are committed to providing services for individuals and their families within Northeast Wales and border areas who are living with a diagnosis of a progressive and/or life-limiting illness. Collectively, we managed to raise £600 for Nightingale House Hospice and a few members of our team travelled to their HQ to present them with their cheque in person.

Sport & Community Projects

From football to cricket, we have a lot of keen sports people within our business and we are proud to be involved in local community projects. The work we do within our community is an active demonstration of our company’s values and commitment to making a difference. Working with local sports teams, allows the mutual benefits of supporting healthy external activities for our team and increased brand awareness.

Moston FC and Raptors

We’re proud to support two children’s football teams, Moston FC and Pilkington FC Raptors who a few of our team’s children play for and as Pilkington FC Raptors is based within the St Helens, where our business was originally founded, we felt it was important to support them through the sponsorship of their kits.

Southport and Birkdale Cricket Club

Our Senior Business Analyst, Chris Cunningham is the captain of the Southport and Birkdale Cricket Club. We made the decision to become a Player and Match Sponsor, which allows us to make a contribution that helps towards the costs associated with maintaining and running the cricket club. Our sponsorship allows us to display a branded board within the cricket grounds, which is great for brand awareness, but also demonstrates our active commitment to supporting community activities and sport.

Rainford Boxing Academy

Rainford is a small village in St Helens, that has a big place in our hearts as one of our first offices was based at Crank Hall at Rainford and it’s where our founder, Matt Newing is originally from. Sarah Whyte, our Director of Sales, has a son named Ben, who is building a successful career as a boxer and currently trains at Rainford boxing academy. We wanted to show our support to Sarah, Ben and his boxing academy, through sponsorship, as we believe it’s really important to sponsor community academies and clubs that provide the opportunity for children to get involved in sport.

Preston Live

On Saturday 22^nd July, Elite Group sponsored Preston Live – a brilliant music festival held at Moor Park. As a platinum sponsor, our team got to enjoy a day of fantastic music from both local artists and 90s legends, as well as enjoy our own VIP area. This incredible community event was a new endeavour of a former Elite employee, so we were even more proud to be a sponsor and support ‘one of our own’.

Team Charity & Fundraising

Danielle’s Charity Skydive 

We think we should start calling her ‘Daredevil Danielle’! In May 2022, our Order Coordinator, Danielle Doolan, bravely took on a charity skydive to fundraise for St Catherine’s Hospice –  an organisation close to Danielle’s heart. St Catherine’s Hospice is an independent charity, based in Lancashire, that support local people who affected by life-shortening conditions, through the provision of specialist palliative and end-of-life care. Danielle’s bravery paid off, as she managed to raise almost £200 for St Catherine’s Hospice.

Lindsey’s Walking Challenge

From the 26^th June until 14^th August 2023 our Renewal Administrator, Lindsey Ansell, took on the challenge to walk 500,000 steps in 50 days in memory of her mum’s friend, who sadly passed away due to a brain tumour. The challenge aimed to raise funds for The Brain Tumour Charity with an initial target of £450 which was exceeded by 266%, with a final total of £1,200!

Halle Elmore – The Little Princess Trust

Paul Elmore, our Head of Product, has an amazing six-year-old daughter called Halle, who selflessly decided to brave the chop and donate her hair to The Little Princess Trust. For more than two years, Halle has been growing her hair, like her favourite princess, Rapunzel. After her friend donated her hair to The Little Princess Trust, Halle realised that she could make another child happy through donating her hair to someone who needs it more. The Little Prices Trust provides real hair wigs, free of charge, to children and young people who have lost their own hair though cancer treatment or to other conditions that cause hair loss, such as Alopecia. Along with donations of hair, The Little Princess Trust also require cash donations to cover the cost of creating the wigs. So, Halle also set about raising at least £1000 to send along with her hair. Halle exceeded her target and managed to raise £1,214 – an outstanding achievement.

Simon Berry – Pancreatic Cancer UK

Our Escalations Engineer, Simon Berry undertook the challenge to run a total of 14 miles in aid of Pancreatic Cancer UK. Despite the fact that survival rates have improved enormously for most cancers, more than 50% of people diagnosed with pancreatic cancer die within 3 months. Pancreatic Cancer UK is dedicated to supporting people with pancreatic cancer through campaigning and funding vital research to reduce the number of people whose lives are affected by pancreatic cancer. Simon has managed to raise £65 so far for Pancreatic Cancer through taking on his running challenge.

Committed to Our Community

As part of our new vision, supporting charity and community initiatives plays a big role within our business and it’s a responsibility we are fully committed to. We’ve got lots of activities and fundraising events in the pipeline, so keep an eye on our social media to see what we get up to.