Pruce Newman announces The Benjamin Foundation as Charity of the Year

East Anglian Engineering company Pruce Newman are delighted to announce that for the next 12 months they will be supporting The Benjamin Foundation as their Charity of the Year, through a range of fundraising events and promotional activities between now and June 2019. Keith Dixon (Compliance Manager, left) and Alan Pruce (Operations Director, right) recently met with Chris Elliott of the Benjamin Foundation (centre) to launch the partnership and to plan activities for the coming 12 months.

The Benjamin Foundation was set up by Richard and Vanessa Draper in 1994 following the death of their son Benjamin in a motorcycle accident. Starting by providing rural youth services in North Norfolk, the charity has since grown to help around 2,000 people across Norfolk and Suffolk each year, providing them with hope, opportunity, stability and independence.

The charity offers a wide range of services, including:

• Accommodation centres for homeless young people. These provide support and a safe place to live for vulnerable 16-25 year olds with no home, helping them get their lives back on track. They can also accommodate young people who may benefit more from living in a family home.
• Support to strengthen family relationships by working with parents and children. The Benjamin Foundation works in more than 80 schools where they support children with their emotional wellbeing, and parents who need some extra help.
• Help with every day issues such as finding affordable childcare, with their nurseries and pre- and after school clubs in North Walsham and Ditchingham. These help parents continue with their jobs, knowing their children are in safe hands.
• Five retail stores, the profits from which go back into the charity. The Benjamin Foundation has furniture store branches in Holt, Dereham and Norwich, which sell donated furniture and white goods. Their Re-use shop in Ipswich sells a wide range of second-hand items, and Kidstore, in North Walsham, sells nearly new kids clothing, baby equipment and toys.

Pruce Newman, which fabricates and installs specialist industrial pipework and steelwork across the South and East of England, has a strong commitment to delivering positive change in the communities in which it works, and chose the Benjamin Foundation as its 2018-19 Charity of the Year from a wide range of potential charity partners suggested by its staff. Speaking about the selection, Alan Pruce commented:

“After completing a successful 12 months of fundraising for EACH, we have accepted the challenge of helping The Benjamin Foundation, and we are confident that we will be able to provide a similar level of fundraising and support for this worthwhile cause during the next year. The Benjamin Foundation provides much-needed services, operating in a similar geographical area to Pruce Newman, and we’re delighted that we can play our part by raising money and raising awareness for this local charity which is going from strength to strength.

“We’re already planning a packed calendar of events, to keep fundraising momentum high throughout the year, and our staff have already suggested some great ways in which they would like to support The Benjamin Foundation over the next 12 months. As well as participating in their Sleep Out, we’ll be announcing our own challenges – encouraging our staff, customers and suppliers to join in and raise as much as possible for the charity.”

Chris Elliott, Marketing & Fundraising Manager at The Benjamin Foundation, said:

“We are delighted to have the support of Pruce Newman for the coming year. Their support will allow us to continue to provide hope, opportunity, stability and independence to over 2,000 local people who need us each year.”

The Norwich Sleep Out, which builds awareness of the issue of homelessness in the region, is the Benjamin Foundation’s largest annual fundraising event. This year, the event takes place at Carrow Road, on the 15th November. Pruce Newman will be entering a team in the event, and will be publicising details of this, and other fundraising opportunities in the near future. If you’d like to donate, the Pruce Newman team have set up a Virgin Money Giving page – click here to visit the site.

More information about The Benjamin Foundation, and the support that they provide, can be found at benjaminfoundation.co.uk