15 Feb Local Brokerage Reveals How Much it Loved Its Community in 2022
Award-winning Essex insurance broker, Ascend Broking, used Valentine’s Day to share details of the impacts of its charity work and demonstrate what its love of its local community achieved in 2022, having collected all fundraising money and reviewed its activities.
Three members of the Ascend Broking team raised £5,582 (£6821.25 including Gift Aid), when they embarked on a three-day charity cycle ride, starting in London and ending in Paris.
The challenge required Stuart Belbin, Max Collins and Eddie Carter to cycle 60 miles on day one, from London to Dieppe. On day two, they took on the 73-mile ride from Dieppe to Beauvais, which was followed, on day three, by a 70-mile ride to Paris.
The money raised was donated to Kids Inspire, a local charity that provides mental health and trauma recovery support for children, young people and their families, through the provision of therapeutic and community activities that promote resilience, self-awareness and relationship building. Kids Inspire encourages better life choices and allows children to escape many social pressures.
Further support was provided to the charity, when five members of the Ascend Broking team volunteered at the Kid’s Inspire Easter School. The Ascend employees joined in with the outdoor activities such as den-making and whittling sticks to use for marshmallow toasting, as well as taking part in games in the play area and helping out with lunch preparation.
At Christmas-time, the Ascend staff collected food items that enabled 13 hampers to be put together for the Chelmsford City ‘Feed the Community’ project. This supported Ascend Broking’s sponsorship of Chelmsford City – another initiative that has placed the brokerage right at the heart of the local community, supporting aspects of life that matter to so many.
On Christmas Day itself, Ascend Broking’s managing director, Matthew Collins, went down to the club, to help serve food to some people in the local community. Around 35 people were served in a hall and eleven families received a food delivery at their home.
A message of thanks from the initiative read, “I just wanted to drop you all a note of thanks for the help you have provided to the football club in providing both hampers for local people in and around Melbourne Park and for your support in enabling us to put on a lunch for people in the Melbourne area on Christmas Day.”
As well as sponsoring Chelmsford City, Ascend Broking sponsors, Broomfield FC, South Woodham Ferrers United FC, Galleywood FC, Springfield Cricket Club and Old Chelmsfordians over 45s team.
Commenting on the ways in which the brokerage showed love for its local community in 2022, Matthew Collins says: “When I founded Ascend Broking, I did not want us to be an entity sitting in an ivory tower, divorced from the causes and concerns of the community around us. What matters to our local community matters to us too and we strive to do all we can to support initiatives, charities and elements of local culture that make a big difference to individuals and the overall fabric of life in and around Chelmsford.
“I was delighted, once again, to see my employees fully engaged with our vision last year and going the extra mile to help others. 2023 will see us continuing with our mission to support worthy initiatives, in a year when helping others will matter more than ever. We hope we can play a full part in this and do what we can to show kindness and concern.”
