Business School continues partnership with charity of the year
Newcastle University Business School is thrilled to announce its continued partnership with its chosen charity of the year, The People’s Kitchen, after one year of supporting the charity.
1 November 2024
The People’s Kitchen provides a service for people in the community who do not have access to food, may be sleeping rough, or who have no support system around them.
The charity provides friendships, hot meals, clothing, toiletries, mobile phones, sleeping bags and professional services to improve mental wellbeing. It also works alongside services that can help move people off the streets, providing food, furniture and bedding when an individual moves into their new home.
Volunteers play a crucial role in how the charity operates. The People’s Kitchen receives no government funding so they rely on volunteers to give up their time, free of charge, so they can open to the community every day of the year.
Volunteering days
The People’s Kitchen also holds corporate volunteering days and the School is proud to say twenty-one members of staff have volunteered a total of 115.5 hours to support the charity.
Paul Richter, Senior Lecturer at Newcastle University Business School said: “My day volunteering at The People’s Kitchen brought a complete change of pace from lecturing and research. I’ve never peeled so many potatoes in my life – I think the manual work did me good. It was the least I could do to give up a few hours of my time to support a service for people who are less fortunate than me. I encountered some very kind and generous volunteers who regularly devote their time and energy to the charity, sometimes year after year. I’d like to repeat the experience, perhaps with a few of my close colleagues next time – you never know, we might hatch a plan for the next funding bid over the potato peeling!”
Our impact so far
The first year of partnering with a charity has been a great success. Through the support of students and staff, the School has raised £1,270.32, in addition to generous amounts of food and clothing donations. The School has held events such as bake sales and a yoga session to help raise funds and awareness of the great work of The People’s Kitchen. At the start of September, two members of staff took part in the Great North Run and raised £950.
Looking to the future
During the next 12 month partnership, the School has many goals it wants to achieve. The first goal is to raise an additional £1,500 for the charity. To reach this goal, colleagues are currently planning some exciting events including more bake sales, yoga fundraisers, festive season activities and Great North Run charity places.
Jaclyn Wright, Engagement Officer at Newcastle University Business School said: “We are looking forward to the next year as we continue our partnership with The People’s Kitchen. Keep an eye on our socials to stay up to date with our fundraisers and collections.”
