Northwest-based public relations firm Bell Pottinger North, has raised £10,000 for ShelterBox as part of its 20th birthday celebrations.
The PR company, which employs a team of 60 across offices in Macclesfield, Liverpool and Leeds, was founded as Insight Marketing by Managing Director, Chris Warham in 1991 and became part of the Bell Pottinger Group in March 2000.
ShelterBox delivers its iconic green boxes globally to families made homeless by natural or manmade disasters. Each box supplies an extended family with a tent and essential equipment to use whilst they are homeless.
The charity won the Justgiving Charity of the Year – People’s Choice award 2011.
During the year, team members raised money for ShelterBox through a variety of events including “Ten Go Camping” when ten “PR girls” slept out on the moors in a ShelterBox tent, a 24 hour rugby match, numerous runs, supermarket bag packs, cake sales and lots more.
Bell Pottinger North Managing Director, Chris Warham, said:
“I wanted us to put something back into the world to celebrate our 20 years. I am incredibly proud of the team’s energy and enthusiasm in running such a huge range of events. Yes we raised £10,000 but it was also great to see people working together in new ways and uniting around a cause that directly benefits others.
“ShelterBox is an amazingly effective organisation. It just gets the job done. Most of the money we raised has already been used to supply ShelterBox tents to families in refugee camps in East Africa and victims of the Thai floods and the Turkish earthquake.”
In 2011 Chris Warham completed training as a ShelterBox Response Team member and is now ready to deploy anywhere in the world when a disaster occurs.
Blackburn-born Tom Henderson OBE, Founder and CEO of ShelterBox said:
“I would like to thank the Bell Pottinger North team for all their support during 2011. Along with our other supporters they have enabled us to deliver emergency shelter and vital equipment to more than 15,000 families, in response to 25 disasters worldwide. Right now our ShelterBox Response Teams are working tirelessly to distribute ShelterBoxes to hundreds of families affected by flooding in the Philippines.”
“Their support means families who lose everything in a disaster can live in safety and dignity while they rebuild their lives, bringing hope to families when they need it most. “
During 2012 Bell Pottinger North will offer pro-bono communications support to ShelterBox. This will include press office support in the event of a major disaster occurring.
Ends
Press contacts
Chris Warham - Bell Pottinger +44 (0)1625 506401 cwarham@bellpottingernorth.co.uk
Katy Creates – ShelterBox UK Press Officer +44(0)1326 569782 katyc@shelterbox.org
Notes to editors
Bell Pottinger North is part of the Bell Pottinger Group - voted number one in PR Week's league tables for the last seven years. With offices in Cheshire, Liverpool and Leeds, its specialisms include, consumer, property, planning, construction, professional services, healthcare, technology, aerospace and aviation and customer advocacy.
High res image available at http://www.bellpottingernorth.co.uk/media/33074/1112_5040.jpg
ShelterBox provides emergency shelter and lifesaving supplies for families around the world who are affected by disasters at the time when they need it the most. Its goal is to help 50,000 families who lose everything in a disaster every year. The ShelterBox solution in disaster response is as simple as it is effective.
The charity delivers the essentials a family needs to survive in the immediate aftermath of a disaster. Each large, green ShelterBox is tailored to the disaster but typically contains a disaster relief tent for an extended family, blankets, water storage and purification equipment, cooking utensils, a stove, a basic tool kit, a children’s activity pack and other vital items.
