Fuller, Smith & Turner has been named as the Corporate Community Hero 2023. The award, given by PubAid and the All-Party Parliamentary Beer Group, was presented at the latter’s annual dinner on 4 July.
The Corporate Community Hero Award is made annually to a pub company that goes the extra mile to support charities and good causes. Fuller’s was chosen this year in recognition of its outstanding support, in particular for its main charity partner Special Olympics Great Britain.
PubAid co-founder Des O’Flanagan said: “Fuller’s is a very worthy winner of this year’s Corporate Community Hero Award. In judging, we look for charity and community support that is consistent, involves the whole company in pubs and head office, and provides significant help to those in need. Fuller’s delivers on all these criteria in spades!
“We were impressed by their goal of donating 1% of their annual profits to charity, and their varied fundraising tactics to achieve this, from an annual Bridge Walk and company-wide football match, to donating a percentage from selected menu items. They are also planning to expand their partnership with Special Olympics GB by offering much-needed employment opportunities to people with intellectual disabilities – showing that support can come in many forms.”
Fuller’s chief executive Simon Emeny said: “We are thrilled to be recognised by PubAid and the Beer Group for our commitment to charity and local communities. Since we started our partnership with Special Olympics GB in 2018, our teams have been really engaged in raising money and awareness for the charity. It’s been wonderful to see the whole business come together for fundraising events, which have been hugely enjoyable as well as raising healthy sums for the charity.”
During its partnership with Specials Olympics GB, Fuller’s support has allowed the charity to deliver sporting programmes for more than 6,500 athletes at 95 all-ability, inclusive sports clubs, covering 27 sports. Other charity and community support that helped Fuller’s win the Corporate Community Hero Award included a partnership with Made in Hackney, a community cookery school and emergency food support service; OnSide, a new youth zone in West London and Only a Pavement Away, the charity that provides stability for homeless people by finding them employment. Individual Fuller’s pubs also provide a huge amount of financial and in-kind support for causes local to them.
PubAid presents its Corporate Community Hero Award annually. The title went to Hall & Woodhouse last year and previous winners include Camerons, Joseph Holt, Stonegate, Greene King and J D Wetherspoon. Initially called the Corporate Charity Fundraiser Award, the accolade was renamed after lockdown to recognise the valuable non-financial support that is provided by the sector. Last autumn, PubAid also presented a special award in the House of Commons to Greene King, to celebrate their raising £13m for Macmillan Cancer Support.
Caption to attached image: (l-r) PubAid co-founder Des O’Flanagan;Fuller’s chief executive Simon Emeny and The Rt Hon Alun Cairns MP, Chairman of the All-Party Parliamentary Beer Group
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Issued on behalf of:PubAid
By:ShielPorter Communications
Further information:ros@shielporter.
Notes to editors
PubAid is a working party created in 2009 to promote UK pubs as a force for good in their communities, sharing the message that they raise over £100m per year for charities and contribute £40 million to grassroots sport. PubAid runs an annual Community Pub Hero Awards scheme, which received 200 entries in 2022, including 70 from MPs, an annual World’s Biggest Pub Quiz, which has raised £750,000 since its launch in 2016, and launched in early 2022, the Grassroots Sports Champion scheme, to recognise pubs’ support for local sports.
The PubAid steering group is led by co-founder Des O’Flanagan and includes a number of well-known figures from the pub world, who lend their time and other resources to help spread the positive messages about pubs’ role at the heart of their communities.
The All-Party Parliamentary Beer Group was set up in 1993 and has a membership of over 350 MPs and Peers. The Beer Group’s objectives are to broaden recognition of the enormous contribution of brewing and pubs to the UK economy from grain to glass – and to celebrate the unique role that beer and pubs play in our society.
Fuller’s charity support
Special Olympics GB
Special Olympics GB provides opportunities for year-round, all-ability sports programmes for more than 10,000 athletes with intellectual disabilities – to help transform lives through sport. Since the beginning of its partnership in 2018, Fuller’s support has allowed Special Olympics GB to deliver its work for more than 6,500 athletes at 95 all-ability, inclusive sports clubs – covering 27 sports across England, Scotland and Wales.
The charity supports individuals with intellectual disability. There are 1.5 million children and adults with an intellectual disability in Great Britain, making it the most common disability in the UK. People with an ID are often socially excluded and many are bullied. They have a shockingly lower life expectancy and 78% do not take part in any sport.
Employment within the ID community has, unfortunately, been exceedingly low; 96% of those with an ID are not in employment – let alone fulfilling employment. Fuller’s will be working with Special Olympics GB to offer employment opportunities to people with IDs – with an initial goal of hiring at least 20 individuals with IDs in Fuller’s pubs and hotels by the end of the summer. A cohort of pubs will attend workshops alongside Special Olympics athletes – with the aim of creating this employment path together,
Pennies
Pennies is a digital upgrade of the traditional charity box, designed to fit with our increasingly cashless lifestyles. Pennies has been in all Fuller’s Managed pubs from July 2019 and last year raised over £200,000 – proving that small donations go a long way. Of the money raised through Pennies donations, 90% is currently donated to Special Olympics GB and the remaining 10% goes to Pennies, a registered charity – to help them grow more opportunities for UK consumers to give digital pennies to UK charities.
Made in Hackney
Fuller’s recent partnership with Made in Hackney, a community cookery school and emergency food support service, kicked off with Made in Hackney’s plant-based burger launching across the estate – with 50p for every burger sold being donated back to the charity. Made in Hackney’s expert chefs developed the recipe for the plant-based burger to be a delicious and nutritious, wholefoods alternative to imitation meat. Since its launch in August, Fuller’s has sold around 20,000 burgers and donated £10,000, as well as producing 60 fewer tons of carbon than an equivalent number of burgers made from beef.
The partnership with Made in Hackney won the Best Community or Charity Initiative at the Restaurant Marketer and Innovator Awards 2023.
OnSide
In 2019 Fuller’s committed to investing £150,000 into a new youth zone in the Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. The project is being delivered by national charity OnSide who operate 14 youth zones across the UK. Based in White City, the Hammersmith and Fulham youth zone will be part of an innovative education hub, known as EdCity.
Named WEST (standing for where everyone sticks together) by local young people, the hub will offer them access to all the fantastic facilities for a cost of £5 for an annual membership and 50p per visit. The WEST youth zone will be staffed by skilled and dedicated youth workers who truly believe in young people – helping them see what they can achieve, and giving them the skills, confidence and ambition to go for it. Facilities at WEST youth zone will include an indoor sports hall, climbing wall, fitness suite, performing arts studio, music suite. https://www.onsideyouthzones.
Only a Pavement Away
Fuller’s works with Only a Pavement Away – a charity who provide stability through employment. They support the charity with its fundraising activities. For example, the annual Fill a Flask event – where volunteers walk the streets of London and other cities offering water to rough sleepers in the summer. Fuller’s also hosted the Base Camp Challenge for Pedalling for Pubs – which raises money for Only a Pavement Away and Licensed Trade Charity – at The Admiralty, and allows Only a Pavement Away to base its head office in its Barrowboy and Banker pub rent-free.
Local community support
Fuller’s pubs are active members within their communities and often take part in fundraising activities for local charities and organisations. For example, The Builder’s Arms in Croydon raised over £1,000 through a hamper raffle and used the funds raised at the supermarket to purchase nine trolley-loads of goodies for the Esther Community Enterprise Food Bank. The Grove Lock in Leighton Buzzard raised £2,000 for Linsdale School Parent, Teacher, Friends Association (PTFA) at its annual fireworks event. Money was raised on the night through generous donations from customers, a bake sale and a charity raffle.
Issued on behalf of:PubAid
By:ShielPorter Communications
Further information:ros@shielporter.
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