PPF and Mind in Croydon – A Perfect Partnership
On Thursday 21st March the Pension Protection Fund (PPF) held an event to celebrate their year of supporting Mind in Croydon. Partnering with a local mental health charity, situated close to their head office in East Croydon has given PPF the chance to get hands on with a number of local volunteering opportunities. Mind in Croydon was chosen by PPF employees for a number of reasons, some of them personal.
At the event, PPF employees revealed the fundraising total of £10,000 to John Pestell, Chair of Mind in Croydon, Richard Pacitti, CEO of Mind in Croydon and some of the charity’s service users. Also in attendance were the Mayor of Croydon Cllr Bernadette Khan, and Cllr Janet Campbell, Croydon Council’s Mental Health champion.
Oliver Morley, Chief Executive Officer at the PPF said:
We’re very proud to have achieved so much for Mind in Croydon. To say that it’s been a busy year of charitable activity for the PPF would be an understatement. Our people have thrown themselves into the challenge and have developed so much passion for the charity that they’ve voted to partner with Mind in Croydon for a second year; a third with a mental health charity. It gives me great pleasure to lead an organisation of people who care about making a difference in the community.
Money was raised through a variety of fundraising events over the year, including bake sales, football tournaments, a 5k run and quiz nights, and other volunteering projects.
PPF volunteers also gave their time at the Mind in Croydon Hub, a drop-in centre where service users are able to take part in groups and activities to help boost their confidence, discuss their mental health needs, and meet with other people.
In October 2018, we organised our most ambitious fundraising event yet – Never Mind the Catwalk, at Boxpark Croydon. Volunteers put on a fashion show using clothes donated to Mind in Croydon’s charity shop, which were also made available to purchase. The event also featured live music, mental health information and special appearances from the Mayor of Croydon and Councillor Janet Campbell.
Lauren Furey, CSR Charity Champion said:
Never Mind the Catwalk was such a massive collaborative effort and to see it bring the community together to raise money and open minds was incredibly moving. Every single person involved in that event from the volunteers to the performers and even the Mayor of Croydon understood the importance of what we were trying to achieve for Mind in Croydon.
At Christmas, PPF volunteers donated goods for festive hampers, which were decorated and delivered to service users via the Mind in Croydon hub.
Richard Pacitti, CEO of Mind in Croydon said
It has been an absolute pleasure to work with our friends at PPF over the last year. Staff there have taken a real interest in the work that we do and have become involved in directly helping a number of the people that we support. This interaction has created enormous benefits for the charity, the people we support and, I hope, has made the whole process much more rewarding for the staff at PPF. The celebration event today was a very special event. Staff from our charity and a number of the people who we support were able to attend, along with our friends from the PPF, the Mayor of Croydon and Cllr Campbell, Croydon’s mental health champion. We were delighted with the money that PPF were able to donate to us and all of this will go directly to the front line, helping people in the everyday lives. Things got even better when PPF announced that they had chosen us as their charity for next year! We look forward to continuing our working relationship with our friends at PPF, which we know will be as beneficial and as much fun as our work to date. Huge thanks to all at PPF.
Posted on: 27th March 2019
