Staff working at a Brighton call centre have made a charity paperchain as long as the Shard – the landmark London building – is tall.
The Domestic and General (D&G) staff, based in Queen Square, Brighton, made the paperchain for their national charity of the year Get Connected, a helpline for children and young people.
They were competing with other teams on #GivingTuesday today (Tuesday 1 December) – hot on the heels of two of the Britain’s busiest shopping days – Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
D&G’s HR manager Nicki Perry said: “The paperchain challenge is a brilliant idea – it’s a really fun and festive way for people to take action for a good cause.
“There are so many pressures on young people today and Get Connected provides invaluable support, both locally and nationally, to those who need it.
“As well as raising funds to keep the service going, the challenge helps remind us of the young people in our lives and gets us thinking about what we could do to better support them.”
Through a range of fundraising activities, Domestic & General has raised almost £20,000 for Get Connected since the partnership began.
Alison Bowyer has been volunteering with Get Connected for four years and each year she has given up her Christmas Day to help vulnerable young people find the help they desperately need.
She said: “For some young people, Christmas can often be the loneliest time of the year.
“It’s so important for Get Connected to remain open during the festive season – so that young people not only have someone to talk to, but they have support to find reliable help if they’re going through a tough time.
“Our paperchain challenge can help raise awareness as well as helping to raise vital funds to support our work.”
Get Connected is encouraging others to take part in the paperchain challenge by downloading free templates, a video and fundraising ideas from the Get Connected website.
Participants can then share messages and the total length of their paperchain through Facebook, Twitter and Google+ with #ConnectedChristmas.
To donate to the campaign, text GCXS15 £2 to the Get Connected helpline.
