Throughout December the Early Careers Committee Charity and Volunteering team is running a food bank appeal for all sites in England with the hope to further this to Scotland helping to get everyone in the mood of giving this year. The Charity and Volunteering team has liaised for physical foodbank appeals at the Bristol, Manchester, and Winnersh sites, helping to provide essentials including clothes, food, and toiletries. Whilst the London site is involved through virtual donations with the help of HPE gives (Benevity) hoping to involve the Erskine site shortly...
For the Manchester site, we are collaborating with WoMen@HPE to ensure a smooth running of the physical foodbank appeal, WoMen@HPE has worked hard to support numerous charities and has chosen Emmeline’s Pantry for the charity of choice this December. Emmeline’s Pantry is entirely volunteer-led by a group of women and supporters who started just 5 years ago to support Women in Manchester by helping to provide food, clothes, toiletries, and baby items to women in need and their families. The Manchester site will be running the foodbank appeal until the 9th of December so please ensure you support the cause, alternatively, you will be able to find a link to donate to Emmeline’s Pantry on the HPE Gives Page through site communications which will be running into the new year.
At the Winnersh Site, we have worked to ensure that there are donate locations in the Eclub room that provide space to donate, if you are assigned to the Winnersh site please ensure you get involved! At the Winnersh Site, we have decided to work with Readifood which is an emergency food group, supporting the Reading areas for over 25 years. In 2019 it was reported that they helped equivalent to 7,000 individual adults and children, since the Covid Pandemic the charity has seen a significant demand increase. The Winnersh site will be running the charity initiative until the 17th of December, alternatively, we have a donate page that will be running into the new year.
At the Erskine site, we are hoping to support the Renfrewshire Foodbank which was founded to support anyone at a time of crisis in Paisley. It is a part of the nationwide network of food banks, supported by Trussell Trust, working towards combatting hunger in our local area. This foodbank aims to provide 3 days balanced nutritious food parcels to help prevent crime, housing loss, family breakdown, and mental health problems. Due to the current restrictions in Scotland, we will be running a virtual donation drive.
At the Bristol Site, we will be running a physical donation appeal supporting the Julian Trust which started life in 1986 when a small group of concerned individuals, including our founder Meg Grimes, felt there was a need to do something for those who were sleeping on the city streets of Bristol in doorways, derelict buildings, cemeteries, and car-park stairwells to name just a few of the uncomfortable and unsafe locations. At the Bristol Site, we are accepting the following sleeping bags, shower gel, washing powder, tinned meat (stew/mince/chili), UHT milk, margarine, tinned meat (ham/spam/corned beef), disposable razors, bread, toilet rolls. Alongside other items also helpful: coffee, squash, tea bags, hot chocolate, sugar, sweet biscuits.
At the ASQ London site, we will be leading a virtual donation appeal supporting the local to London charity City Harvest which is a surplus food redistribution charity aiming to provide London with a sustainable solution to the challenges of surplus food and food poverty. Working alongside a range of supermarkets, retailers, and hospitality venues, the charity distributes food for free to 350+ food banks, schools, and community groups across every London borough. With every £1 donated, the City Harvest charity can deliver 4 meals for those facing food poverty, helping to make a tremendous difference to both people and the planet.
Why is it important we get involved? At the charity committee we understand that whilst one person may not make the biggest difference alone, together we can make a huge impact. Here at HPE, now we’re all heading back into the office more frequently, we’re really trying to make a big push on in-person contributions and in-person charity events. Make sure you get involved in you are based at any of these sites in the UK, and if you are a global reader know that you can make an impactful difference to the lives of others through your actions and donations. You will find the links below to the HPE Benevity page where you can make donations.
Manchester - https://hpe.benevity.org/cause/826-1169796
Winnersh - https://hpe.benevity.org/campaigns/50619
Erskine - https://hpe.benevity.org/campaigns/50882
London - https://hpe.benevity.org/campaigns/50966
James Hirst
Hewlett Packard Enterprise
twitter.com/HPE_UKI
linkedin.com/company/hewlett-packard-enterprise
hpe.com/uk
Maninder_R
Hewlett Packard Enterprise Early Careers Lead - UKIMESA
