like Poverty Hurts and Great Aycliffe Cancer Support Group .
“ The two guest speakers from organisations which the firm regularly supports evoked some powerful images .
“ Through this event , we tried to draw on our local contacts , get them involved and build up our relationships in the local community .”
Tara said the initial feedback from women who attended the event had been positive and the firm would also be sending something out to all the attendees so they can provide further feedback and suggestions for future events .
“ People found the speakers really relatable and authentic and said they could resonate with the things that they were saying and examples they were giving ,” she added .
“ The afternoon tea we put on using our canteen provider also went down really well and we also had some little stalls where people could choose to buy , with Mother ’ s Day and Easter in mind .
“ They involved local small businesses that we wanted to promote and support in the area .”
The local businesses involved included House of Eden , Sugar Pie Desserts , La Chocolatrice , The Herbal Gin Co and Serenity Crystals .
Some staff members who sell things on Etsy , such as hand-crafted items , also got involved .
“ It was a chance for them to promote other skillsets and their hobbies outside of work ,”
Tara said .
“ I think people got the most out of the speakers with the content and the messages they were putting across .
“ It was all about creating the opportunity for women in our organisation to come together and people appreciated the opportunity to have a bit of networking with other females in the organisation who they might not come across day-to-day .”
Michelle Cooper , CEO of Poverty Hurts , said it was a “ brilliant ” event and she particularly enjoyed seeing people who had only been in touch by email before meeting each other for the first time face to face .
“ Women from all over the company were able to come together and share a special moment and take time out of their day job ,” she said .
“ For the company to support that is fantastic and it was a joy to be there .”
Poverty Hurts actively supports small charities in the local area with access to funding throughout the year .
Michelle added : “ We launched Poverty Hurts in response to the cost of living crisis – and it ’ s only getting worse .
“ Gestamp were at the launch of Poverty Hurts and wanted money raised from this event to go into the Poverty Hurts appeal .
“ I gave an overview of the appeal and what we are trying to do and talked about the themes of equity and equality . People that live in poverty experience far more inequalities – we ’ re seeing it in the press at the moment with people having pre-pay meters forced on them for their energy supply .
“ They are paying more money because they don ’ t have access to online banking and credit and don ’ t have the choices people who have access to those things have .”
Michelle also gave a few examples of the grants Poverty Hurts has awarded for things like clubs where “ people can come to and get a decent meal and feel less lonely ”.
“ We don ’ t just feed people , clothe people and help them survive , we make them aware somebody cares ,” she said .
“ Gestamp have shown they are committed to their community , employing locally and supporting local people through their charity fundraising .
“ They are incredibly supportive and to be commended .”
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