Hazlewoods is proud to come together and support the communities we live and work in. Each year we create a shortlist of nominated charities for our firm to vote on and decide which good cause we’ll raise money for through varying fundraising events and initiatives.
Our chosen charity of the year for 2023/24 was James Hopkins Trust (JHT). Established since 1989, the Gloucester-based charity provides respite care for babies and children up to the age of six who have a life limiting or life-threatening condition, while supporting their families.
We wanted to support JHT’s vision – to make a positive impact on the lives of children who face severe health challenges. And so, we got to work.
The past 12 months have seen a whirlwind of fundraising activity – from ‘throw a sponge at a Partner’ to a Windemere end-to-end swim, a 19-mile team trek to marathons, a ‘Jeans, Hoodies and Trainers’ day to a 4x4x4 run challenge – not forgetting our charity tuck shop devouring!
JHT also provided the opportunity to get involved in some volunteer work, which offered a great collaborative day out for our Vets team, who helped to prepare JHT’s memorial stream and sensory garden for spring this year.
Wendy from JHT, said: “They did a months’ worth of jobs in one day!!! They did not stop!!! All the JHT staff were commenting on it. And the feedback they gave was fantastic.”
At the start of January 2024, we had reached £30,000 which would have already made a huge impact for JHT – £292.50 pays for one child to have a 5.5-hour daytime respite session, meaning we would have funded 102 sessions at this point.
As the final weeks of the 2023/24 financial year counted down, we were itching to get a glimpse of the final total, eagerly tallying up our JustGiving page donations as well as pestering the Finance team for final figures!
Which leads us to proudly announce that our final total raised for James Hopkins Trust is £47,100! An incredible achievement that will make such a difference – well done to everyone for your incredible efforts.
Sarah James, JHT Trust Director, commented: “The amount Hazlewoods has raised is breath-taking! You guys are machines, and I am in awe of you all!
“Thank you so much for your hard work, tenacity and entrepreneurial skills at Team Hazlewoods – it is staggering!
“Please pass on our heartfelt thanks to everyone who has genuinely made a substantial difference to what JHT can contribute to the families we are privileged to work with.
“We have been genuinely proud to be affiliated with Hazlewoods.”
As we now look forward to embarking on our 2024/25 fundraising efforts, we are very excited to announce that our new charity of the year is Emily’s Gift.
In 1995, Julie Kent and her husband Bernard’s first daughter Emily died of a brain tumour when she was just three years old. Since then they have thrown themselves into fundraising for children with cancer in Gloucestershire.
Julie Kent MBE, Founder of Emily’s Gift, said: “We are thrilled to be the COTY for Hazlewoods in the year ahead. With Gloucestershire growing as a County so quickly there are many more children diagnosed with cancer who are being treated on the Emily Kent Unit at Gloucestershire Royal Hospital.
“Our mission is to support them and their families during this indescribable time. Thank you for supporting us and let’s have some fun whilst fundraising!”
James Whittaker, Hazlewoods Partner, concluded: “We are incredibly proud of the amount we have raised for JHT. Our people took on such varying and challenging fundraising events – it’s superb to see our team continue to rise to the challenge.
“We look forward to now turning our attention to Emily’s Gift and I am excited to see what we can achieve.”
So, get your thinking caps on, donations at the ready and let’s have another terrific fundraising year!