Ian Williams was delighted to present a £75,000 donation to The Trussell Trust, the charity that is working to end food poverty by supporting a network of over 1,200 food bank centres, as part of the More Than Homes campaign.
A social housing sector initiative, the More Than Homes Campaign, is looking to raise £1million to support food banks as they come under increasing pressure to feed more and more people. With backing from the National Housing Federation, Chartered Institute of Housing and the Northern Housing Consortium, Ian Williams’ £75,000 is the largest single donation to date.
Andy Havard, Ian Williams’ Managing Director commented: “Words cannot express how proud I am to represent everyone in the business who has contributed over the last 12 months. As part of our 75- year celebrations, we wanted to do something exceptional and for us, that always means giving something back to the customers, communities and individuals we work with. So, this time last year, the entire organisation embarked on our most ambitious fundraising campaign to date: the ‘IW75 in 75 Mission’ which saw teams virtually cycle, swim, run and walk around the globe to clock up miles over 75 days to raise £75,000 for More Than Homes. During the rest of 2021, despite the challenge of fundraising during various lockdowns, the Ian Williams’ Foundation and individuals across the business, managed to hold other events, competitions, raffles etc to contribute to the final total.
“There has never been a more appropriate time for us to come together as a collective and I’m so proud that as a business we have been able to demonstrate the social purpose that has underpinned our brand since 1946. I’d like to say a huge thank you to everyone and we hope our donation goes someway to alleviating the current crisis of heat or eat facing so many people.”
Paul Dolan, CEO of Accent Group, one of the key advocates of More Than Homes and Ian Williams’ customer added: “The team at Ian Williams have shown incredible support for the More than Homes campaign over the last 12 months and I’d like to thank them for their considerable efforts. Their dedication to go above and beyond to support those facing food poverty mirrors their customer-centric work ethos and strong company culture. Harnessing the power of partnership working is key in making an impact to those most in need across our communities.”
Chris Woo, Head of Philanthropy and Programme Funding Trussell Trust commented: “Everyone in the UK should be able to afford the essentials – to buy their own food and heat their homes. Yet food banks in our network continue to see more and more people facing destitution with an increase in food parcels going to children. We are so grateful to all the staff at Ian Williams, and the wider More than Homes campaign, for their amazingly generous support which will support our food banks throughout the UK.”
Header image: Ian Williams’ MD Andy Havard hands over the £75,000 donation to The Trussell Trust’s Chris Woo and Accent Group’s Paul Dolan which will be used to support foodbanks nationally.
