GMS Group Donates Christmas Budget to Charities

Midlands-based, Cold Chain Federation member GMS Group has donated its Christmas budget to support local charities including Smethwick Food Bank, Black Country Women’s Aid, Dudley Zoo, The Kaleidoscope Plus Group & Birmingham Women’s Hospital Charity.

The Bromsgrove based group of security specialist companies is well known for its philanthropic endeavours and has generously supported a huge number of charities over the years.

Speaking about GMS Group’s pledges to five local charities this year, Commercial Director Lisa Nicholson said, “Charities need support more than ever in the wake of this year’s pandemic and donating our Christmas budget is a fantastic way for us to offer our support to those who do so much for people in the region, at a time when they need it most.”

GMS Group has given a donation to Smethwick Food Bank, which will contribute to a Christmas Day lunch for 200 residents from the Sandwell area including Smethwick, Oldbury & Cape Hill. The company hopes its gift will make a real difference to those who rely on food banks for support.

Speaking about GMS Group’s donation, Gareth Brown, Director of Smethwick Church Action Network said, “we are so grateful for the generosity of GMS Group in supporting our Café Team to prepare and deliver over 200 Christmas meals to local residents.   Our Foodbank, pantry and take-away meals service has operated throughout the Pandemic supporting the most vulnerable in our town.   We have provided over 4000 emergency food parcels through our Foodbank alone and these are often a lifeline to individuals and families.  We hope that through these meals we can also spread some hope and joy in the midst of these challenging times.”

To Black Country Women’s Aid, GMS Group has donated a fragrance gift set to each of the 55 women living in refuge, as well as 41 individually selected Christmas presents for boys and girls aged 1 – 17 who live in households that are supported by Black Country Women’s Aid.

Regional Fundraising Officer at Black Country Women’s Aid, Deborah Slater, said, “BCWA is overjoyed to receive such wonderful gifts. We send our thanks and love to everyone at GMS for making Christmas day so special for each family, knowing others care about them goes a long way to help them overcome trauma and rebuild their lives.”

Dudley Zoo & Castle has benefited from a donation from GMS Group, which will pay for a set of permanent weighing scales for their Asiatic lions that will be sited adjacent to their dens.

Dudley Zoo Director, Derek Grove, said, “We are so grateful to GMS for their wonderful donation. Permanent weighing scales will do so much to help us care for our Asiatic lions. Weight gain for most big cats is an issue, and regular weighing is the best way to monitor and adapt their diets accordingly. Our new scales will play a really important role in the care of our Asiatic lions, who are an endangered species. GMS Group’s donation will also pay for the fixings to protect the devices to ensure our big cats don’t just chew them up for fun!”

By way of a thank you, Dudley Zoo plans to place a GMS Group plaque near to the Asiatic lion enclosure.

West Bromwich based mental health and wellbeing charity, The Kaleidoscope Plus Group, has received a donation from GMS Group, which will contribute to the costs of operating its counselling services. As a trustee of the charity, GMS Group CEO Neil Male has a personal connection to the cause, which helps so many people throughout the UK.

Neil said, “The Kaleidoscope Plus Group has experienced unprecedented demand this year and has literally moved mountains to ensure that they can help as many people as possible, by launching new, more accessible services – at a time when they’ve faced an enormous amount of pressure themselves. We’ll continue to support the charity and its amazing work into 2021 and beyond.”

And finally, GMS Group’s fifth donation has benefited Birmingham Women’s Hospital Charity, which has had to introduce visitor and patient regulations in light of the COVID-19 outbreak. With Birmingham placed in Tier 3 lockdown, the hospital’s restrictions are expected to continue into Christmas and beyond, so GMS Group has done all it can to help create a festive environment at ward 5, which is a transitional care ward dedicated to supporting families of babies with additional medical needs, including preterm and small babies.

Speaking about becoming a Christmas Magic Maker at the Birmingham Women’s Hospital, Lisa Nicholson said, “We’ve funded three days of Christmas at ward 5, which we hope will bring a little bit of magic to those families who’ll be spending Christmas at the hospital.”

“The hospital has gone all out in decorating its wards. With our donation, Birmingham Women’s Hospital Charity has turned ward 5 into a festive home from home where soft, lullaby-style carols float through the stereos. Far from being cold and clinical, it’s a place full of warmth and hope and we’re proud to have played our part in that.”

Helen Miles, Corporate Fundraising Manager at Birmingham Women’s Hospital Charity concluded, “This year has been far from ‘business as usual’, but what remains the same is that we want all of our women and babies who are unable to be at home over the festive period to still experience the magic of Christmas at our hospital. We’re so thankful to GMS Group for becoming a Magic Maker this year and helping to spread a little joy amongst our wards.”

Using the donations described, GMS Group joins hundreds of businesses in a national campaign (#XmasPartyHeroes) that’s encouraging businesses to donate the money they would have spent on their Christmas parties to charity this year. The campaign has raised over £1.2million so far.

For more information on our chosen charities or to find out how you can get involved, please click HERE & then on their logos below.

GMS Security

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