Bristol Windows surpasses £20,000 milestone as a corporate supporter
Bristol-based windows and door manufacturer, Bristol Windows, have been long-standing supporters of Penny Brohn UK, having chosen us as the charity back in 2019. Since starting that support 4 years ago, the team at Bristol Windows have raised a staggering £20,000 for those living with cancer.
We recently spoke to Head of Marketing, Shanice Wilson, to find out their story, and why it’s important for the team to be able to support us in this way.
Why did you choose to support Penny Brohn UK?
We chose Penny Brohn UK as our main charity because an employee of ours has benefited from the services they provide. They suffered from cancer twice, and have found the services and support from Penny Brohn UK to be invaluable both during that time and living with the long-term effects. We were also looking to support a local charity, and with their National Centre being only 10 minutes down the road – it was the perfect match for us!
Cancer is a such an awful thing that we as a society have had to learn to live through, whether that’s first hand, a family member or a friend, there will always be someone needing this support. Cancer affects people in many different ways, from just a scare to Stage 4/terminal, and what we love is that just like cancer Penny Brohn does not discriminate. No matter who you are, your history, or where you are in your cancer journey, their doors are always open and there is always some form of support people will find beneficial.
Can you tell us a little bit about your fundraising activities to date?
For 4 years now we’ve run a scheme where we donate £25 for every composite door we sell. This includes sales to both our trade clientele and through our retail department. So far, we have raised a total of £21,850. One of our team also took part in Penny Brohn UK’s ‘Challenge 150’ back in 2021, and we raised £380 from that.
How does it feel to have hit this fundraising milestone?
It is amazing that we have been able to hit the milestone so quickly, from something that is very low maintenance for us. Knowing we are giving back is very important, it also enables us to stick to our core values, supporting locally and giving back to our local community.
What’s the most rewarding thing about supporting a charity in this way?
It is definitely very rewarding being able to support a local charity to us, we have a great working relationship with Penny Brohn UK and we get to be involved and hear firsthand how our donations are supporting the charity. Our employee also still benefits from Penny Brohn UK’s support and gets to meet people there that are also being supported through cancer, and so we get to hear about all of the vital work the charity does from her.
What do you have planned in terms of future fundraising?
We are due to be launching a new showroom at our factory in Ashton Vale. We are planning to host an opening there, where we can really show off what we have already done and push a lot more awareness for our fundraising. We are also looking to host a charity Golf Day in Spring next year.
What would you say to other companies who were thinking about supporting Penny Brohn UK?
Definitely go for it! The support you get from Emma (Penny Brohn UK’s Corporate Partnerships Manager) and her team is great, they are always on hand to help. We have adapted a very low maintenance way of being able to support Penny Brohn UK that is rewarding, but also not a ‘hard sale’ that you can sometimes find.
To be able to pop to the National Centre and see what you are supporting is also great. And I know (as I have had first hand experience) that all you need to do is talk to a couple of people who use Penny Brohn UK’s services and they will tell you how invaluable it is to them.
For me Penny Brohn UK’s ethos of ‘living well with cancer’ is so important, from the offset they are identifying that cancer is something that will affect 1 in 4 people, and instead of making that the focus, they put all their energy into supporting and helping people through the journey, making it a less daunting illness to deal with. Something that, with a little help and support, everyone can live well with cancer.
From everyone here at Penny Brohn UK, we just want to say a big thank you to the whole team at Bristol Windows for their support over the last 4 years and we can’t wait to see how that continues into the future.
We’d like to thank Bristol Windows for sharing their experience. The words used are preferred by Bristol Windows. Penny Brohn UK encourages everyone to use their own words to tell their story. If you have any questions about any of the language used, please email comms@pennybrohn.org.uk.