2023 marks the 250th anniversary of service here at Slater Heelis. To celebrate, we have endeavoured to give back to our local community through a variety of initiatives. Slater Heelis has, in one form or another, operated in Sale and Manchester since 1773, and we couldn’t be where we are today without the community in which the firm has served since then.
Our key initiative for our 250th anniversary is our 250 charity days challenge. This initiative sees all staff receive a paid day off to volunteer at a charity of their choice, with an end goal of 250 days in total given to the charities close to our colleagues’ hearts. Take a look at some of the charities we have visited so far:
The Mustard Tree
The Mustard Tree is a homeless service that operates across Greater Manchester. It provides food, clothing, furniture, community and education to local people facing poverty and housing insecurity. Learn more about the charity and our volunteer work in the video below:
St. Ann’s Hospice
In March, we had the opportunity to help maintain the outdoor spaces at St. Anns Hospice. This remarkable charity offers in-house and at home care and support for people with life-limiting illnesses. We hope these refreshed outdoor spaces create a relaxing natural environment for service users and their families. To share the amazing work done by St. Ann’s, we created the following video with them:
Seashell Trust
Children Abled and Disabled Sports Programme (CADS) is just one way in which the incredible Seashell Trust support and uplifts children with disabilities from across the UK. CADS activity-filled days help these children build confidence, get active and express themselves during the half-term holidays. If you’d like to see how our volunteers contributed to the Seashell Trust’s CADS sessions, watch the video below:
Our community projects
- To complement our volunteering initiative, we’ve been supporting and connecting with the community in other ways too.
- We donated 85 PCs to local schools to help combat digital poverty.
- We sponsored this year’s Trafford Pride Festival, a showcase of LGBT+ art, theatre and talent.
- We were recognised by the LGBT Foundation for our approach to and gained a Disability Confident accreditation
- In January, we helped St. Ann’s Hospice recycle Christmas trees from across Greater Manchester.
- In April, we helped marshal the Lagan’s Foundation cycling challenge to raise money for children with complex health needs and their families.
- In support of World Autism Awareness Day, we held a bake sale in the office to spread awareness and raise money for Seashell Trust
- In May, we teamed up with Brooklands Primary School to bury a time capsule that preserves Sale as we know it today. You can read more about this here:
- We had 13 runners join the Great Manchester Run to raise money for Group Strep B Support.
- We also teamed up with Stockdales, a local charity that supports disabled adults, young people and their families, to clear up litter at Sale Waterpark and keep it safe for local wildlife.
What’s next?
We have lots of exciting opportunities for our staff to get involved with the local community and give back. This includes returning to the charities we have already visited to continue our support as well as visiting further charities such as Emmeline’s Pantry, Society for Abandoned Animals, Henshaws, Cyril Flint and Sparkle. We look forward to sharing these experiences with you as we continue to show our support of local causes.