A new Grotto for Santa

Dec 9, 2015

Emanuel Whittaker and a number of its suppliers have been giving a helping hand to Santa at his grotto at Dr. Kershaw’s hospice in Oldham.

Every year the hospice hosts a very popular Christmas Extravaganza which raises funds for the hospice and Santa has been known to drop in and say hello.  Obviously, he needs his own grotto and Arron Cheshire, Community Fundraiser from Dr Kershaw’s, was concerned it was not up to scratch.

“We had been using a small and dark office in the Hospice, but we wanted something that was a bit brighter and more magical for Santa,” he said.  “We decided to ask our friends at Emanuel Whittaker if they could help.”

Facilities Manager from Emanuel Whittaker, Phil Peacock was confident that, with the help of other local businesses, Santa could enjoy a more luxurious base while visiting the hospice.  Timber was provided by Joseph Parr and Howarth Timber which allowed the Emanuel Whittaker joiners to build walls and a door onto the existing wooden gazebo within the Hospice grounds.  Signage to the grotto was provided by Signbox and Bladen Electrical made sure all the electricals were safe to use.  Kind volunteers from Dr Kershaws decorated the grotto and made it habitable for Santa to use during his visit.

‘As usual we were bowled over by the kindness and generosity of our sub-contractors,” said Phil.  “The space has been maigically transformed from a gazebo which was exposed to the elements to a lovely and cozy grotto which is a much nicer area for Santa to talk to the children of Oldham.”

Typically, the great British weather meant further shelter for other stall holders was needed and Arron asked if Phil had any contacts who could provide a marquee.  Fortunately, Phil is a Scout Leader and so he put a call out on Facebook to the North West scouting community.  The Oldham and District scouts came to the rescue and not only provided the marquee but also enough scouts to erect it and to take it down – saving the hospice around £1000.

“We have been very moved by the kindness of Emanuel Whittaker and their sub-contractors and of course the fabulous scouts from Oldham who made our Christmas Extravaganza such a success,” said Arron.  “The event raised over £8,000, with the grotto making just under £500 and everyone who attended was pleased for the cover provided by the marquee. Most importantly of all, Santa was very impressed with his grotto and said it had never looked nicer.”

Emanuel Whittaker Annual Golf Day Raises £2000 for DR Kershaws Hospice

Aug 22, 2014

Emanuel Whittaker’s recent charity golf day has raised over £2,000 for Dr Kershaws Hospice.  

Emanuel Whittaker Facilities Manager Phil Peacock and Contracts Administrator  Sandra Newton organised the day. Phil said: “We would like to pass on our huge thanks to everyone who supported this event, especially our sponsors who were predominantly subcontractors and suppliers from Oldham and the surrounding area.”

Ten teams of four players joined in the fun at Saddleworth Golf Club and the day was won by Heywood based Avonside Group Limited

Phil added:  “It was a great day for everyone involved and thankfully the weather held out. Both players and sponsors have been incredibly generous with their time and money and even found extra cash to add to the evening raffle.”

The Emanuel Whittaker Golf Day was first held in 2012 as part of the company’s 175 anniversary year celebrations. It was so successful the company have made it an annual event and if you are interested in supporting the event in 2015 get in touch @emanuel_whittak

 

Emanuel Whittaker staff raise £1,000 a month, every month for a year

Aug 29, 2013

After a year of exhausting and imaginative fund-raising to celebrate its 175^th anniversary, staff at Emanuel Whittaker have announced the total money raised in the period was £12,009.17.  That equates to a thousand pounds a month, every month for a year!

Clive Newton, Managing Director said:  “With so many activities going on it has taken a while to get all the money in, but we are thrilled with the final count.  Our staff, clients, sub-contractors and friends and family have been incredibly generous and it’s been genuinely lovely to meet some of the people at The Christie Charity and Dr Kershaw’s hospice who will benefit from the money.”

To raise the cash Emanuel Whittaker staff were split into teams who between them all developed a vast array of fundraising initiatives including a car wash, making and selling handmade garden furniture and kitchen equipment, a sponsored weight loss, a sponsored silence, various sponsored walks, a bungee jump and a meditation evening as well as various sporting events including; football, cricket and golf.

The monies are to be divided between the two charities and the company has asked that The Christie funds are directed to the Young Oncology and Haematology and Transplant Unit.

“Emanuel Whittaker has invested a lot of effort into developing young people through our apprenticeship programme and we work with local schools and colleges to encourage young people into construction,” explains Clive Newton. “As a result of this relationship with young people we wanted to do something that specifically benefits them.”

The Christie currently has two specialist services, in need of refurbishment, however it has identified that it can deliver even greater results if the services are integrated, especially as approximately 50% of young cancer patients will have a haematological cancer (blood cancer). The Christie charity is therefore hoping to raise just over £10 million to build a new integrated treatment centre to replace the existing Young Oncology Unit (YOU) and Haematology and Transplant Unit (HTU).

Natalie Pike, Corporate Development Manager at The Christie Charity said:  ‘Everyone at The Christie is so grateful for the amazing support of Emanuel Whittaker, their staff and customers. The wonderful donation will be going towards our new Young Oncology Unit, which will help enable us to build a new world-class treatment centre for teenage cancer patents. The unit should be complete early next year and we will be inviting everyone who contributed to the opening ceremony.”

Over fifty per cent of the funds will be given to Oldham’s hospice. Dr Kershaw’s needs nearly £5,000 every day to be able to continue to operate its specialist services and maintain the outstanding standard of care.  Fundraiser Lisa Pearson said:  “We were so thrilled and proud be chosen as one of the nominated charities for Emanuel Whittaker’s anniversary fundraising year. As a local charity it is important for us to build and maintain links within our local community and Emanuel Whittaker’s approach to fundraising meant that we had plenty of opportunities to work with staff and suppliers.

“Dr Kershaw’s Hospice is extremely grateful for the company’s support, it costs over £1.75 million to run the hospice each year and the lion’s share of that funding comes from local companies, community groups and businesses. Without the support of people within our community we could not provide the vital services we do.”

Emanuel Whittaker’s 175^th anniversary celebrations have now concluded, however, many staff have enjoyed their fund-raising activities so much they intend to continue helping their favourite charities.

Director John Gallagher said:  “Where possible the company will continue to support staff in their efforts to raise money for good causes through either financial or practical support.

“We had no idea how much we could raise in 12 months and everyone involved has been staggered by the generosity of all our supporters.  We want to pass on our congratulations and thanks to all those involved.”

On line auction to win signed Latics shirt and calendar

Nov 22, 2012

Emanuel Whittaker’s fundraising efforts have been given a boost with a very generous donation of a signed Oldham Athletic Shirt and Calendar.

The prized memorabilia were donated to Emanuel Whittaker by Martin Maycock from Freefoam, a leading manufacturer of PVC-U roofline products.

The shirt and calendar will be auctioned off to raise money for Emanuel Whittaker’s two nominated charities, The Christie and Dr Kershaw’s Hospice.

For your chance to win either the shirt of the calendar, simply enter ‘Shirt’ or ‘Calendar’ followed by the amount of your bid in the comments box below.  Alternatively you can bid on our Facebook page by clicking the icon on the right.

The auction will close on Monday 17th December at 12 noon.

Golf day raises over £2,000 for our nominated charities

Sep 14, 2012

 

Dransfield’s winning team	Clive’s team look for the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow	A beautiful course

The figures are now in for the charity golf day we organised last week at Saddleworth Golf Course.  Thanks to the generous support of our sponsors together we raised in excess of £2,300 for the Christie Charity and Dr Kershaws Hospice.

Emanuel Whittaker Site Manager John Millward who organised the event said:   “Our huge thanks to everyone who supported this event, especially our sponsors who were predominantly businesses from the Oldham and surrounding area.”

They were:

M & R Heating Services

A Connolly Ltd

OpenView Security Solutions Ltd

PARPAC (Plastering & Rendering, Partitions and Ceilings)

Advanced Satellite Services Ltd

Liquid Roofing Ltd

Network Scaffolding Contractors Ltd

Dransfield Electrical Ltd

Howarth Timber Merchants Ltd

P R Panels Ltd

PBI Engineering Ltd

Brendan Heap Plastering Contractor

Lees Heginbotham & Sons Ltd

Oldham Plant Hire Centre

CPL Skip Hire Ltd

Campbell Scaffolding Specialists

Pennine Services Ltd / Mastacab Containers

Securex Doors LLP

Pro Clean Cleaning & Maintenance

Airsafe UK Ltd

Three Crowns at Scouthead

Mather & Stuart

 

The event was won by Dransfield Electrical who won with 88 Stableford Points. Second prize went to PARPAC, and our MD Clive Newton’s Newton’s team came in third.

Prizes for closest to the hole went to Tony Connolly of A Connolly Ltd, and our Site Manager Peter Dransfield, and the longest drive prize going to Alan Platt of Absolute.

John added:  “It was a great day for everyone involved.  Both players and sponsors have been incredibly generous with their time and money and we have also been given additional gifts and donations that we were not expecting”.

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