CHAMBER NEWS CHARITY PROFILE: CHESTERFIELD SAMARITANS
Each year, the Chamber president chooses three charities across its three counties to support with a series of fundraising activities. In 2021, these organisations are Chesterfield Samaritans, Help the Homeless Leicester and Nottinghamshire Hospice. Over the next three issues, Business Network will profile each charity – starting with a volunteer from Chesterfield Samaritans.
Who are you and what’s your role within the charity? I’m Peter Gately, the treasurer and head of resources.
What is the background to your charity? On 2 November 1953 in London, vicar Chad Varah answered the first ever call to a new helpline for people contemplating suicide, called Samaritans. Although not a religious organisation, he offered counselling to his parishioners. The Chesterfield branch opened in 1971.
Who do you support? We take calls from anyone who is suffering from distress, despair, anxiety, financial or marital worries, mental and physical health problems, and suicidal feelings. On occasions, a caller could be in
the midst of taking their own life and needs someone to be with
them, albeit over the phone. Callers can contact us by
telephone, email, web chat (in some branches only) and, in normal times, by coming into branch for a face-to-face chat. Our outreach team also takes our work into the community.
How has Covid-19 affected the work of the charity? Covid has affected how we work as a branch. About 25% of our volunteers are shielding either for themselves or to protect a partner. This means we have to close shifts sometimes, while our face-to-face service and outreach operations have both closed temporarily as we can’t allow anyone into the branch to talk or meet outside.
How important a role do businesses have to play in supporting your charity?
Giving back to local
young entrepreneurs The Chamber allows each of its 150 employees to spend the equivalent of two working days per year on CSR activity. Enterprise adviser Steve Nelson, who previously ran an international events business, explains how he spent his first CSR experience.
At the start of March, I tentatively agreed to offer a couple of hours of my time to talk to second year Peter Jones Enterprise Academy students at Chamber member Leicester College. The students are currently working on a development and
enterprise strategy module and I was invited to a business surgery to listen to their ideas and advise where appropriate. I had no idea what to expect, but after a short welcome from the college team, I found myself in a whirlwind of enthusiastic entrepreneurs rotating every 15 minutes between different business advisers for the next two hours. It was fantastic to meet all these young students with such amazing
ideas, including food and drink combo design packaging, social media management, translation services, eyelash treatments, a tennis racquet restringing service, and a wonderful mobile food service with a twist. As the students eagerly awaited my response, I found myself able
to support them with the experience and training that I’d recently learned from the Chamber’s enterprise team. The couple of hours flew by. It was a great experience for me and
I’ve been asked to return as a guest speaker in April. If anyone is considering this type of CSR activity, I can highly recommend it.
34 business network April 2021
Business can help our branch by advertising our service, holding events to raise money and donations.
What does the future hold for your charity? In the future, I would hope we can attract more volunteers to become
listeners or even support workers. More volunteers would mean more shifts could be opened, as some branches are open 24/7.
For more information on how businesses can support Chesterfield Samaritans, contact
chesterfield@samaritans.org
Helping SMES comply with legal obligations
Fashion and textile manufacturers across Leicestershire can access free support to help them demonstrate their commitment to ethical and social compliance. The Business Gateway Growth
Hub has created a new programme for SMEs to ensure they comply with legal obligations around health, safety and employee wellbeing. It’s designed not only to help
them survive and recovery through current challenges, but also to transform their businesses and enable future growth. Growth Hub manager Jon Egley
(pictured) said: “Our fashion and textiles sector has taken a beating in recent years and unfortunately this has damaged its reputation. However, there are many fantastic firms in our region doing great things that want to keep improving and move forward as responsible, safe and sustainable businesses. “We are delighted to provide this
fully-funded service to help them strengthen the businesses from the
inside out and, in turn, open them up to new opportunities and new business.” The Growth Hub’s service
includes dedicated advice from an experienced business adviser, free support clinics and webinars covering three key themes – health, safety and wellbeing; ethical and social compliance; and employing people.
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