Supporting Bath - new rugby shirts help local charities

JANUARY 2012

Bath sports shop JMS Rugby has created a new rugby shirt to help two local charitable organisations. It’s In The Bag, a charity set up in 2009 to raise awareness of and support those men with Testicular Cancer throughout the whole of the South West, and Winsley’s Dorothy House are benefiting from sales of the ‘Supporting Bath’ rugby shirt. This shirt has blue, black and white hoops with the logos of It’s In The Bag and Dorothy House on each arm.

“At JMS rugby we sell a number of rugby shirts where some of the proceeds go to various charities,” said manager Simon O’Connor. “I wanted to design and sell a rugby shirt that would appeal to local rugby fans and at the same time donate some of profits to a couple of worthwhile local charities. It's In The Bag and Dorothy House were obvious choices as I work closely with Mike Morgan (one of IITB's founding members) and grew up living opposite Dorothy House. We have worked with Brand-Co Management who have supplied us with the shirts that come in sizes 6 months to 3XL.”

The shirts are available from JMS Rugby in the High Street or on their website at www.jmsrugby.co.uk.

Children's Service benefits from Crane support

NOVEMBER 2011

Vanessa Johnson of Crane Merchandising Systems is pictured handing over a cheque for $5000 – £3052.23 – to Katrina Sudbury of Dorothy House, in memory of Greg Jackson. Greg, who was UK sales manager at Crane, was cared for by Dorothy House and since his death Vanessa has applied every year to the Crane Fund for Widows and Orphans for a grant for the hospice. To date grants totalling a wonderful £16,231.27 have been received.



Katrina said “ We’re delighted with all the efforts that Vanessa has made to support Dorothy House and are very grateful for the funding from the Crane Fund. We would have struggled to develop our Children and Young person’s service without their help. Last year the service had 1,295 contacts with families that needed our care."

Doing the White thing!

Supporting the local community is something that high street fashion chain White Stuff takes seriously – and over the past two and a half years the store’s Bath branch has helped to raise nearly £12,000 for Dorothy House.

Nationally, White Stuff runs a charity foundation – set up on 1 May 2010 – which makes regular donations to local stores’ chosen charities. In addition, the White Stuff branch in New Bond Street holds regular fundraising events for us. The latest donation, of £918.95, comprised £465 from the White Stuff Foundation, with the balance coming from the Bath shop’s contribution to ‘Wear a Tea Cosy on Your Head Day’ on Wednesday 29 September.

Dorothy House fundraiser Phillippa Watson said: “White Stuff set up its charity foundation to value local people and make a difference to their lives. By raising funds for their local hospice the staff at the Bath store are doing just that, and we are very grateful for their generous support.”

Running an Event

Pyjama parties, cycle rides, horse-less team events, marathons, sponsored silences and custard pie throwing are just a few events that companies have run to raise money. Come up with your own whacky ideas to have fun or contact Phillippa Watson or Yvonne Brunton in fundraising on 01225 722988

Matched Giving

Many companies will match the money that their employees have raised for charity. Lana Mackrell raised the highest sponsorship money for the Girls on Top driving challenge –and that was before she got matched funding from her employers – Rotork, in Bath. She raised £268 and with matched giving, the grand total of £536 goes towards patient care at Dorothy House Hospice Care.

Payroll Giving: Make a Difference

The Home Office recently announced a grant programme designed to get small and medium sized companies to set up payroll giving schemes. We will be encouraging local companies to implement the scheme to persuade their staff to make a monthly donation from their salary before tax. The benefits are clear, but many companies still don't offer this simple and tax effective method of giving to their staff. Now with these new financial incentives there are no excuses. Depending on its size, a company will receive a grant of up to £500 to set up a scheme and the government will match each donation (up to £10) made by employees for the first six months. As any payroll giving donation is made before the PAYE tax is calculated, donations cost employees less. An individual's donation of £5 per month would only cost £3.90, ie. the cost of one lunch once a month, as the taxman would pay the rest. With Home Office matching, this £3.90 is worth £10 to Dorothy House. For more information we have devised a simple guide to payroll giving and Phillipa Watson would welcome the chance to meet your company to talk about the benefits and how to put a scheme in place. Alternatively, log onto to www.payrollgivingcentre.org.uk for more details

Give as you earn

Giving through your pay is one of the best ways you can help. GAYE allows employees to give a tax-free amount to charity on a regular basis directly from their salary. And it gets better! So when you give £3.90 per month Dorothy House receives £5.00. If you're a higher rate taxpayer then it only costs you £3.00!
To find out how easy it is to give contact the fundraising department on 01225 721480