CLAAS UK and it’s entire dealer network is full of thoughtful and caring individuals, many of whom have committed time and effort into helping others. This monthly newsletter is to provide you with updates on the months charity stories and celebrating those who contribute, as well as information on how you can get stuck in yourself.
Read on to discover what the network has been up to!
CLAAS UK
Natasha Murray, Lynn Chilvers, Hayley Lucas, Claire Brown
MANNS
Laura Madine. Chelsea Rednall
Our star baker from the Winter Bake Off was John Kireia with his Mars Bar Brownie. John chose the “Miscarriage Associaton” as the charity for the Spring Bake Off. With the help of our amazing bakers and the donations from those on site, £294 was raised, making it our most successful bake off.
Star Bake Donations
Karen Watson
Victoria Sponge £294
Next Charity
We look forward to seeing all Saxham based staff in Seasons on Monday 17th of June!
On Thursday 12th October a Quiz Night was held at CLAAS UK organised by Angela Brennan and Claire Brown to raise money for their upcoming London Marathon participation. The evening was full of fun, laughter, fundraising, prizes won and the all important Patrick Wells Trophy!
In total 10 teams completed in the Quiz with the winning team “We’ve got the runs!” (Angela Brennan, her partner Chris, Ed Farrow, Stuart Cave and Dan Cracknell) securing the Patrick Wells trophy. The trophy will be looked after by the Tech Office. Well done and thank you to all who attended the quiz.
Angela and Claire had great success in selling raffle tickets, and would like to say a huge thank you to all who purchased some, especially to those who were unable to attend the Quiz but still supported by purchasing some raffle tickets.
WESTERN
Steve McCahill, James Russell
Alex Southgate
EASTERN
Guy Willey, Robert Hosdell
Angela and Claire done a great job at securing some fantastic prizes. A huge congratulations to all of the raffle winners!
A total amount of £1,356.89 was raised from the Quiz Night. This will be split 50/50 between Angela and Claire for their selected charities and has set them off to a great start with their fundraising.
A huge well done to Angela and Claire for putting on and organising such a fantastic and successful event! Both will be running the 2024 London Marathon on Sunday 21st April.
To sponsor Claire and Angela please head over to their individual fundraising pages.
Angela Brennan running for St Michael’s Fellowship Claire Brown running for Children with Cancer
Have an idea for a charity event? Looking for support to help raise money? Want to get more involved?
If you have an idea for a charity event or are looking for support to help raise more sponsorship money for an event you are running or participating in please inform the CLAAS Charity Committee. We can provide support, help with providing resources and help you with your fundraising. We are also always open to hearing ideas from everyone on what CLAAS could do to help charities.
Each year as we approach Christmas break, we run the CLAAS Charity Draw. This gives all employees across CUK & Retail the chance to choose a charity close to their heart to support. The draw is always free to enter, and if your charity is drawn they could receive up to £1,000.
10x Charities - £100
5x Charities - £200
2x Charities - £500
1x Charities – £1,000
The draw for 2023 took place on Tuesday 19th December, with the following charities being drawn to receive the amounts as below.
For the business year 2022 – 2023, CLAAS UK & Retail’s chosen charity has been Children with Cancer. Marion and Eddie O’Gorman founded Children with Cancer UK in 1987 in memory of their children Paul and Jean after losing them both to cancer within months of each other. For over 35 years, the charity has been working to fund vital research, support families and raise awareness. Their vision is a world where every child survives cancer.
Throughout the year a range of fundraising has taken place including company events (annual awards dinner and CUK/Retail celebrations), dealer events & shows, a CUK bake off, raffles and various other fundraising events.
Through the fundraising an amazing £6,818 has been raised over the past business year for Children with Cancer. A huge well done and thank you to everyone who has helped raise or contributed to this!
We have had a great year raising funds for Children with Cancer but as with every new business years, comes the opportunity for another deserving charity to receive our fundraising efforts. At the October employee council meeting CLAAS Western were drawn out the hat to decide which charity would be the selected charity for business year 2023 – 2024.
Each Western location put a charity forward and the charity chosen for this year is Winston’s Wish.
Winston’s Wish is a charity that helps children, teenagers and young adults up to the age of 25, find their feet when their worlds are turned upside down by grief. Last year they supported 62,484 grieving children and young people, and 90% of their income comes from their supporters.
Every day across the UK, children and young people lose someone significant to them. The death of someone important can be the most traumatic experience a child or young person will ever face.
Winston’s Wish relies on voluntary charitable donations to support children and their families following the death of a parent, sibling or important person. Since 1992, they have helped tens of thousands of bereaved children and young people and, with your help, can help tens of thousands more during the most difficult time of their lives.
Within each our sites, lets do all we can to raise a good sum for Winston’s Wish this year. Please do keep us up to date on your fundraising so we can feature it in the regular newsletter and reach out to the charity committee for support or ideas on fundraising.
On Sunday 29th October, Guy Willey attended Farmer Brown’s Tractor Run representing CLAAS Eastern to support the event. The event was held to raise money for the Lincolnshire & Nottinghamshire Air Ambulance, raising an incredible total of £6,618 on the day!
Part of the fundraising at the event was from a raffle, which CLAAS Eastern very generously donated a Bruder CLAAS Combine for, which was then one of the first prizes picked! Well done to CLAAS Eastern for supporting such a wonderful event and cause.
Originally set to take place on 3rd December 2023, but due to snow was cancelled, the guys taking part in the 5K run for charity York MIND rearranged it off their own backs for 15th December. Successfully completed by Phil Winter, Rob Jennett and Ben Croft in their Elf dresses! Unfortunately, Carl Brewer
was unable to participate due to an injury he sustained earlier in the month. Overall, they reached their fundraising target raising over £500 for York MIND, a fantastic amount of money raised for a very important charity, well done guys! They would also like to say a huge thank you to all who donated.
Please reach out to somebody from the charity committee if you have any charity events at your site so we can include a feature in our next Charity Newsletter!
CLAAS is committed to making a meaningful contribution to the communities where we work and live. In 2019, the company introduced the ‘Employee Volunteering’ policy, which entitles all CUK and CUK Retail employees on a permanent contract of employment who have completed their six month probationary period to take a maximum of two days each business year (October – September) to carry out volunteer time, whilst being paid at your standard basic rate for 7.5 hours. For part time employees your two volunteer days will be pro-rated according to the number of hours you work, and you will be paid for the usual number of hours you would have worked that.
For further information please refer to the Employee Volunteering Policy (No: HB023)
One of the common ways to use the volunteer days has become blood donations, so far we have had many CLAAS employees use their days for this cause. For blood donations the two volunteer days can be split into six blood or platelet donation sessions, with each session being 2.5 hours.
Giving blood saves lives. The blood you donate is a lifeline in an emergency and for people who need long-term treatments. Blood donors are required from all backgrounds to ensure the right blood is available for all requiring patients.
To find out more about how you can donate blood please visit: www.blood.co.uk
If you have recently used your volunteer days, we would love to hear your personal story and share it in the next charity newsletter so please do get in touch.
One of our members of the CLAAS team from CLAAS Eastern at Markham Moor Steven Mear was recently diagnosed with Leukaemia, sadly following his diagnosis Steven has since passed.
On Sunday 21st April 2024, a road run is being held to raise money for Leukaemia UK now in memory of Steven for all that was done to support him during his diagnosis. The road run is for any vehicle; tractors (old or new), vintage cars and more!
> £20 per vehicle
> £5 per passenger (includes your ticket for hog roast)
> £5 per hog roast ticket (required if not taking part in the road run)
The road run begins at Hall Farm Wild Bird Supplies leaving at 10am and ends back at Hall Farm Wild Bird Supplies also around 3pm, at which time the hog roast will then be available.
Morning tea and coffees also available.
This looks to be a great family fun day (including a raffle) to raise money for an incredible and important cause so please do support where possible either in person or by heading over to the JustGiving page to donate.
Sammie-jo Mear is fundraising for Leukaemia UK (justgiving.com)
At this difficult and sad time, our thoughts are with Steven’s family, friends and colleagues. Steven will be greatly missed across the CLAAS network and by customers.