We couldn’t believe our luck when we came across a brilliant local charity based right on our doorstep in Newcastle-under-Lyme called Alice Charity.
We’d previously heard of Alice Charity’s generous support system in place to help disadvantaged and vulnerable families of the Stoke on Trent and Newcastle area. The more we came to learn about how much protection the charity gives to these people, the more we wanted to team up and show some support of our own.
About Alice Charity
Alice Charity was originally founded by a comforting mother-daughter duo in 2011, and they never looked back! They started out small and have grown tremendously over the years spreading their kindness and generosity. Together they strive to prioritise local disadvantaged families with their main aim being to show them unconditional love, care and support. It must be a family thing.
Want to learn more about the charity? You know you want to get involved! Click here to find out more.
How did Swan help Alice Charity?
Of course, a donation was the first thing that came to mind to help Alice Charity, so we gathered some ideas on how to raise some money. We hosted an in-office raffle with some of our Swan appliances for the staff to fight over (whilst socially distancing of course). Each ticket for the raffle was £5 into the AC pot. This was a win-win because not only was it for a very good cause, it meant the staff could finally get their hands on some of our new range products for their post-lockdown kitchen renovations.
We then donated some stock items directly to the Alice Charity families in need of appliances; every home should have kitchen essentials to get through the day with ease. We also donated the AC team with some Swan products. We knew even before we teamed up with them just how hard they work in order to help out the local community and there’s nothing like a fresh clean set of kitchen appliances to boost the staff room positivity!
Spreading the word about Alice Charity at Swan’s Black Friday Event
We also spread the word about our Alice Charity fundraising through our 2020 Black Friday event at the end of November. We had the Alice Charity logo printed on our Black Friday t-shirts for our online following to see and get involved with. Swan’s Black Friday was an all-day event that included some brilliant TV guests and influencers, who also helped us to broadcast the good work done by AC during live filming on the day. This is the least we could do to get the ball rolling for operation give-back!
Are you curious about what else we got up to on Swan’s Black Friday? Have a gander!
Swan staff helping out at the Alice Charity People’s Pantry
We then made an offer to Alice Charity to come and do some graft for them, and within a few weeks, we had it all organised! The Swan staff were so excited to get involved and show their appreciation to the charity for all that they do. However, as you can imagine, in the middle of a National Lockdown, this was not an easy event to organise.
We asked Alice Charity what support would be most useful to them in their busiest month of December.
We then collected volunteers from the Swan team and split them into two groups. One group would help out at AC’s People’s Pantry (a food bank if you will); here we would congregate three days’ worth of food; using food that makes meals and making sure that a family has things to make at least nine meals with.
Only two members of staff could help at the pantry per day; keeping at a distance and wearing face masks as to follow the safest Coronavirus regulations. While the other group would collect and help to deliver said food parcels and essential items to the people and families in need in and around Newcastle.
Swan Team hard at work!
The staff members out on delivery made sure to maintain a safe contact-free distance when dropping the food parcels off to the homes of the families. All staff took part in an hour of training with a wonderful member of the Alice Charity team in order to guide us through how the charity works and the procedures involved in the work they do. We also worked to the safest strategies which enabled us to take part while adhering to Covid19 rules and regulations put in place at the time.
This was certainly an eye-opening experience for Swan to be a part of. It’s amazing the little things such as household necessities that you learn to take for granted over time. We couldn’t imagine having to live in hope for some support for the things that are needed to feed or look after your loved ones. Alice Charity make sure to include these vital household items in every family’s parcel, providing toiletries, sanitary products, cleaning products, nappies and baby milk. These past twelve months have been an undeserved time for all of us without imagining not having these basic needs met.
Here’s some of the Swan team hard at work over the course of a week. We couldn’t wait to share the success of this collaboration with you on our social media pages. We’ve managed to spread the love across social media platforms as much as we could during the past few months since working with Alice Charity; anything just to help spread the word about their amazing movement! It was such a comfort during the week to see so many local people offering their support via raising awareness and donating essential items and food parcels to the charity.
Thank you, Alice Charity, for letting Swan help out with your life-changing work!
The local families of Stoke-on-Trent and Newcastle-under-Lyme have been in our thoughts since we started working with Alice Charity. It really hit home especially around Christmas time just how much a bit of love and generosity can help so many. From that small start-up to a huge team able to give never-ending support to these families in need.
All of the Swan team felt so privileged to be involved with such a lovely cause and we’re ecstatic to announce we raised £500! We’re also so glad that over fifty of our Swan kitchenware and household items have gone to good homes where they’ll be looked after. Nobody should have to go even a day without a cup of tea or coffee, a warm piece of toast or a hot meal on their plate. We only wish we could do more for this giving, life-changing organisation that is Alice Charity and we cannot thank you enough for allowing us to be a part of your amazing journey.
