12 Dec Dawson Shanahan employees team up to make a big difference to local children’s hospice
Team members at Dawson Shanahan have overcome their fear of heights, walked for miles and competed in their own Great British Bake Off-style competitions in the name of kindness to so far raise nearly £2,000 for children’s hospice Hope House.
Staff at the Welshpool-based specialist precision engineering firm donated £200 to the local charity – which provides care for children with life-limiting conditions – after completing a sponsored walk from Welshpool to Berriew, and £300 and £450 from two separate bake off events, with the most recent being held to celebrate Hope House’s 21st birthday.
The company also raised £70 by selling off scrap pallets and bobbins, and has donated more money through other activities organised by Quality Technician Amy Hamer and Furnace Room Team Leader Jenny Roberts, including supermarket bag packs, collecting profits from a chilled drinks machine on site and donating funds for a special Christmas tree bauble fund.
Dawson Shanahan’s Production Manager, Nathan Ball, also conquered his phobia of heights and took on the world’s fastest and Europe’s longest zip line challenge at Zip World near Snowdonia to raise £720.
Ball said: “All the fundraising activities are fun and a challenge for the team but above all they are helping to support an extremely worthy cause in our local community. The zip wire challenge was terrifying but I was inspired by the bravery of the children in Hope House. If they can keep smiling while going through what they are facing each day then I knew I could tackle my fear of heights to raise money for them.”
Hope House is particularly important to Dawson Shanahan because the 12-year-old brother of two of its employees, Callum and Iwan Mann, has been supported by the hospice since he was born with multiple organ disorders.
“Hope House provides round the clock, 24/7 specialist respite and end-of-life care at its two hospices or within family homes,” Ball added. “It costs an astronomical amount of money to keep its services going so a lot of the funds we’re raising go towards running expenses. It really is an important local charity to us, especially with the personal connection some of our staff members have to it, so we wanted to give something back and support its vital work.”
Dawson Shanahan also recently held a special Christmas raffle to raise funds for another charity: The Shrewsbury Ark, which is a drop-in centre for homeless and vulnerable people that relies entirely on donations to survive. The raffle raised £650 in total, taking the Dawson Shanahan team’s fundraising for the year well over £2,000.