ERA, the security company that announced last week that it was returning money given to it by the Government’s Job Retention Scheme, has donated £8,000 to Hope Ty Gobaith Children’s Hospices.
The donation comes as Hope House has been chosen as the company’s nominated charity for 2021, the second year running. Hope House Ty Gobaith Children’s Hospices supports families in Shropshire, Cheshire, Mid and North Wales who are either caring for a terminally ill child or whose child has died.
When the pandemic curtailed most of the fundraising activities ERA annually undertakes, the company’s staff came up with a practical solution to the problem. It was agreed that this year, rather than give customers gifts this Christmas, they are instead going to give a donation to Hope House Ty Gobaith Children’s Hospices.
Darren Waters, ERA’s CEO, commented, “As we do every year, we asked employees to vote from a selection of charities, and Hope House Ty Gobaith Children’s Hospices was the unanimous choice for this year and now 2021 as well. We are proud to be associated with an organisation that is making a huge difference to people’s lives when they need it most. Our commercial director, Helen Downer, was all set to take part in the Peak, Paddle, Pedal team fundraising event this summer for Hope House, which has unfortunately had to be postponed until 2021”.
Commenting on the donation, Simi Epstein, director of fundraising and marketing at Hope House Ty Gobaith Children’s Hospices, added, “We were completely stunned at the staggering donation of £8,000 which we received from ERA Home Security and I cannot begin to put into words how grateful we are.
“As for everyone in March, Covid changed everything and we had to adapt our ways of working overnight. We were determined that no child would die without their family around them and thanks to the generosity of our amazing supporters, we were able to continue to provide crisis and end of life care throughout.
“Our financial losses to date this year have been unprecedented. With our retail shops having to close we have seen a dip in income of over £750k and due to the cancellation of our fundraising events, community and corporate income streams have dropped by over £350k. We are realistic and know we cannot make up these losses, but we cannot afford for this to continue and we are therefore working hard to develop alternative fundraising initiatives.
“The generosity of ERA has reminded me that not everything has changed, we continue to have loyal supporters who provide the financial help we so desperately need. I find this knowledge comforting as I look ahead and I would like to thank everyone involved for restoring my faith that together we will make it out the other side stronger and better and most importantly that no family will face the death of their child alone”
“It costs £6.5 million every year for the charity to operate, and 86% of this is spent on care. Approximately one month’s income comes from statutory sources and for the other 11 months of the year the charity is dependent on public support. The organisation’s ambition is to raise an additional £2.5 million each year to make sure it reaches every child and their close relatives who need help in the region.”