Our next Positive Parenting Programme starts on Monday 26th February, 12-2pm and will run for 5 weeks. Please see below for full details and how to book.
Teams at DHU’s Roundhouse base on Pride Park plus People & Culture team DHU wide have been busy collecting and donating gifts and toys for Children First Derby, a charity providing essential services for disadvantaged kids in the county.
As a not for profit, Community Interest Company, DHU constantly looks at ways to make a positive impact beyond the realms of healthcare and as we enter the festive season, wanted to do something to help spread a bit of Christmas spirit to those supported by Children First .
These gifts were collected and placed under a tree before being joined by Louise Webb from Children First Derby, who collected the presents, ready for Santa to give to those who may otherwise have missed out; to put smiles on young faces
on December 25th.
April Francis, Organisational Development Specialist at DHU Healthcare, expressed the team’s sentiment, stating, “Supporting a local children’s charity seemed perfect at this time of year, the donations have been amazing and it really shows what the power of collective kindness can achieve.
Working together within the teams at Roundhouse and the wider People and Culture team to provide the children with these gifts is really something wonderful.
Debbie in the Café has been a great help in collecting all these and we’re overwhelmed by the response!”
Jessica Armstead. HR Coordinator for Urgent and Emergency Care, echoed this sentiment, saying, “Being part of something that brings joy to children that may be facing challenges is incredibly fulfilling. This is the true spirt of the season.”
Children First Derby is a charity devoted to supporting vulnerable children and young adults up to aged 18, serving as a lifeline for those facing adversity in the Derby community. The thoughtful gifts collected by DHU Healthcare’s Corporate Team will undoubtedly bring smiles and holiday cheer to the faces of those who need it most.
Louise Webb is the Children First Derby Fundraising Co-Ordinator, she said:
“We’re so pleased that DHU Healthcare has chosen to support us in what we do,
helping young people and their families when they need it the most. We support
children from broken families, single parents who are finding life difficult or it could be families with children who have disabilities. They all need help in some way.
“Many of the children who will be receiving these generous and wonderful gifts
will otherwise have had nothing. Christmas is all about giving and I know from
speaking to some of those at DHU who organised this collection, the thought of
being able to provide that moment of joy to a child on Christmas Day is what it’s all about. Thank you to everyone at DHU who supported this collection.”
But the giving spirit doesn’t stop there. DHU Healthcare’s Corporate Team is gearing up for a Christmas Bakes Fundraiser from December 5th to 7th, 2023, at the Café in No 2 Roundhouse. All proceeds from this will go directly to Children First Derby, further amplifying the impact of their collective generosity.
Children First Derby held their annual Christmas Market in November, at Electric Daisy, on Bold Lane in Derby which was attended by over 300 people including Santa and his elves!
The event, which was sponsored by Smith Partnership, raised over £1000 for the charity.
Electric Daisy was a fantastic venue with plenty of space for the Christmas Donkeys, Santa’s Grotto and a fire pit to toast marshmallows. Although outdoors, the space was well covered to avoid the small drizzle of rain and beautifully lit up with Christmas lights and decorations, as well as a Christmas Tree which was kindly donated by Mr Christmas Tree in Spondon.
There was a range of stall holders there on the day, that set up in beautiful wooden huts, selling everything from dog treats to candles and toiletries. Children First Derby had their own stalls selling Santa Keys, Snowman Soup and Advent Calendars, kindly given to the charity at cost to help them raise money.
Alongside the stalls Children First Derby also had a traditional sweet cart and a Face Painter who was hugely popular with the children.
Electric Daisy, who provided the venue to the charity free of charge, had their horse box bar open and the pizza over fired up, keeping everyone fed and watered whilst they enjoyed the event.
One stall holder said, “This is one of the best Christmas Markets we have been to, and we do a lot at this time of year. It was well organised and there was plenty to do for all ages. It had a real buzz about it.”
There was plenty to do for all the family, children could write letters to Santa and post them in the very special North Pole Post-box whilst their parents shopped and enjoyed a festive tipple. There was also a chance to visit Santa in his grotto, complete with fire backdrop and stations to create your own ethical reindeer food station, decorate your own wooden baubles and the extremely popular s’mores station around the fire pit.
The ever-popular Christmas Donkeys were also back for the second year and the children loved stroking them and having their photos taken.
Louise Webb, Fundraising Coordinator said, “It was fantastic to have so many people attend on the day, Electric Daisy was a great venue in Bold Lane, and it was lovely to see new faces with people passing by coming in to see what all the excitement was about.
“I’d like to say a huge thank you to Jamie and his team, all our stall holders, our fantastic volunteers and of course Smith Partnership who helped make this event possible.
“As a charity we rely on fundraising from events like these to help support our Family Support and Mentoring Services.”
Staff from a Derbyshire-based housebuilder have braved the elements to successfully tackle the Cotswold Way in aid of charity.
A team of 15 employees from Miller Homes East Midlands walked the 50km route across The Cotswolds to raise money for its regional charity, Children First Derby.
The staff from Miller Homes were joined by the charity’s fundraising coordinator, Louise Webb, on the trek, and have so far raised almost £3,000 via the housebuilder’s dedicated Just Giving page for the walk.
Funding from the charity walk will go directly to Children First Derby, to support vulnerable children, young people and families across Derbyshire, something the charity has been doing since 1974.
Louise Webb, fundraising coordinator for Children First Derby, said: “It was a great experience with a great group of people. Everybody was really encouraging, helping each other to keep going especially towards the last five miles, which were really tough.
“It was hard work and my body ached for days, but what a fantastic fundraising achievement. The money raised will really help make a difference to the families, children and young people that we support.
“We are extremely grateful to Miller Homes for their continued support and especially this latest fundraising effort which really was a challenge. Thank you to all the group that took part and we can’t wait to see what Miller Homes decide to do next and hope to keep working with them in the future.”
Miller Homes East Midlands is based at Centro Place in Derby, near to Pride Park. The housebuilder has raised in excess of £25,000 for Children First Derby since it partnered with the charity in 2021.
Tom Roberts, operations director at Miller Homes East Midlands, said: “Our team has completed an incredible feat by trekking across 50km of the Cotswolds Way in the name of charity.
“We knew the enormity of the challenge going into it, but felt if we were going to ask family, friends and colleagues to support us, it needed to be something which took courage and a lot of commitment to achieve – and the feedback from those who took part certainly suggest we hit the mark.
“We are really pleased to have raised almost £3,000 so far from the walk, which takes our overall fundraising for Children First Derby to over £25,000 in the past two years, but we recognise the most important thing is what the money is going towards, something we all feel passionate about, and that certainly kept the team going during those difficult moments during the walk.”
To donate towards the Cotswold Way fundraiser with Miller Homes, visit https://www.justgiving.com/page/miller-homes-east-midlands-1692264521913.
Join us at our Christmas Market on Saturday 18th November from 12pm.
There will be fun for all the family with Santa’s Grotto, Christmas Donkeys, crafts, stalls selling local produce, pizza and a bar.
If you are interested in having a stall at the event please contact [email protected]. Stalls cost £25 with all proceeds going to Children First Derby.
As well as Christmas Presents this year, we are also doing a financial collection so that we can take our families shopping and help ease the worries about food over the festive period. Please contact [email protected] for more information on how to donate.
Come and join us during October Half Term at the Derbion Halloween Event.
There will be creepy crafts, spooky tattoos and games for all the family to enjoy.
DJ Dracula will also be there spinning some tunes and there will be a balloon modeller and face painter.
All proceeds from the event will go to us here at Children First Derby.
The event will take place in front of the Customer Service Desk outside Boots.
Our next Reach For Wellbeing Program starts on Wednesday 4th October and will run for 8 weeks. Please see below for full details and how to book.
On Sunday 13th August, four members of the team from Hays Travel in Allestree complete a tough 17 mile walk, raising £519.00 for Children First Derby.
Kelly, Arran, Kacey and Emmie from The Hays Travel Allestree decided to arrange a sponsored walk from Hays Travel Allestree to East Midlands Airport.
Starting at 8.30am on the Sunday morning, the long walk which went through The City Centre, Alvaston, Shardlow and Castle Donington, before ending at East Midlands Airport Arrivals, took 8 hours and 30 minutes, 3 pub stops and 37,707 steps to complete.
Kelly Irvine, Branch Manger explained, “We decided to support Children First Derby as it is a cause that we really care about, and a charity that aligns with our values and beliefs here at Hays Travel. Hays Travel are big ambassadors of supporting local charities within our communities.”
Hays Travel have their own charity, the Hays Foundation which focuses on causes supporting and helping children and families. Each year the branches are all encouraged to do charity and community work in their own local areas and are given £500 to help them with this.
“Although it was tougher than we thought, and I couldn’t move afterwards, we really did enjoy walking for this great charity.” added Kelly.
“It was a great day for team building too and we felt really accomplished at the end of it. The pub stops on route certainly helped too. We decided to do a walk to the airport as we wanted to do something linked to travel.
We can’t wait to do more in the future to support Children First Derby and other causes in our community.”
The walk raised a fantastic £519.00 through donations on Just Giving before the walk, and in cash donations that were donated along the way.
Louise Webb, Fundraising Coordinator at Children First Derby said, “We are really grateful to Hays Travel for fundraising for us. The team all did a great job completing the walk and not only did they raise a fantastic amount, but they helped raise awareness of the charity, wearing our branded t-shirts, talking to people on the way and sharing lots of photos on social media.
We are delighted that they chose to support us and can’t wait to do more work with them in the future.”
Our next Positive Parenting Course starts on Monday 6th November, 6.15pm-8.15pm and will run for 5 weeks. Please see below for full details and how to book.
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