22 December 2022
Staff at the National Composites Centre (NCC), based in Emersons Green, have raised more than £2,000 for Bristol Children’s Charity through gift, food and money donations this December.
Taking part in Bristol Children’s Charity’s Donate a Gift scheme, which sees disadvantaged children who may not otherwise receive anything be given gifts to open on Christmas morning, the NCC expanded this to a food bank to ensure as many families could be helped as possible at this special time of year.
Staff added items to collection boxes throughout the month, with a group of NCC elves using the money donated to buy more gifts and food. Some of the money raised came from a very special Christmas bake sale and competition held at the NCC in the Bristol and Bath Science Park, which was judged by Great British Bake Off champion – and former NCC Chief Engineer – Giuseppe Dell’Anno. Giuseppe also held an exclusive book signing session for NCC colleagues, with copies of his first book – Giuseppe’s Italian Bakes – available to all. The prize of 'Star Baker' was awarded to Matthew Smith, Graduate Research Engineer, pictured with Giuseppe.
Granville Jenkins, Chairman of Bristol Children’s Charity, which is staffed entirely by volunteers, said: “We want to thank everyone at the National Composites Centre for such an amazing and incredibly generous donation of toys, selection boxes and food. This will all be sorted and distributed to hundreds of disadvantaged children in the BS postcode who would have had very little or nothing at Christmas.
“The generosity of staff at the National Composites Centre has never been rivalled by any company since I started collecting gifts at Christmas over seven years ago. I’d like to thank them all so very much, they really have made a huge difference. Many children will have huge smiles on their faces come Christmas Day.”
Jools Granville, Director of Marketing and Communications at the National Composites Centre, part of the High Value Manufacturing Catapult, added: “We are delighted to be able to support such a worthwhile local charity at this time of year. The work they do is incredibly inspiring and much needed at what is a very difficult time for many people at the moment. Everyone at the NCC asked for us to do something to give something back to local families and children who really need it, as part of our festive celebrations, and I am delighted that we have been able to raise so much that will make a difference to their lives this Christmas.”
