Highway Traffic Management raised a grand total of £130 for SIFA Fireside last week as they challenged traffic management industry associates to take on their giant buzz wire game.
With 26 successful attempts of the buzz wire, HTM doubled the donation amount to reach £260 for the charity along with 26 trees to be planted by the business, tying in with the Highways UK 2021 theme of sustainability.
“With so much focus around COP26 in addition to the theme of sustainability at this year’s show, we wanted to do something that would be able to contribute to our carbon off- setting as well as our carbon neutral status,” said Business Director, Marcus Casey.
“We had a lot of fun on the stand last week and it was really positive to see such a great footfall at the show to reconnect with clients and meet new prospects. We’re really pleased that we can also have a positive impact by making this donation to SIFA Fireside and to the National Trust, who will be planting 26 seedlings thanks to our successful buzz wire competitors.”
The charity, SIFA Fireside, is based locally in Birmingham and provides support for those who are homeless or on the brink of homelessness, offering an array of services from their drop-in day centre in Digbeth which received a vibrant rebranding last month. Here, people are able to benefit from health and medical advice and support, enjoy a hot meal from the on-site kitchen or make the most of the job club where they can receive assistance with job searching and CV writing.
Greg Baldwin, MD of HTM is an Employment Patron for the charity, working with them closely on their ‘Building Employability’ project which looks to help support those who may be homeless or in vulnerable living situations to gain employment within blue-collar positions around Birmingham. The project has a two-pronged approach which looks to prepare businesses and guide them to better support employees that may be coming from a vulnerable housing situation, as well as offering help to the individuals themselves who are going through the programme, helping prepare them for what they can expect once they are back in employment and how to navigate the change in their circumstance.
SIFA Fireside’s Chief Executive Officer Carly Jones and Fundraising, Volunteer and Communications Manager Melissa Roche joined HTM on the stand on the first day of the show.
“HTM have been extremely involved with us in regards to the Building Employability project, being able to provide some great input and insight into the areas that may take some transitioning for both potential employers and SIFA Fireside clients,” commented Carly.
“They have previously supported a number of individuals by offering employment opportunities and have got some real success stories from some of these situations.”
In addition to the charity donations to SIFA Fireside and the National Trust, HTM also ran a prize draw for the giant buzz wire for those who completed it with all 3 of their ‘buzzer lives’ intact. Rebecca Lloyd from Balfour Beatty was announced as the winner of the £50 shopping voucher prize and was also one of the contenders who completed the challenge without a single buzz – congratulations Rebecca!
Highway Traffic Management will be returning to Highways UK in 2022.
