On Thursday 3 March, the BB&J Commercial team joined Mark Richardson to support Safe & Sound’s Charity Race Night. By the end of the night, over £5,000 was raised!
The Charity Race Night, hosted by the local charity Safe and Sound, was organised to continue their support of children and young people across Derbyshire who are victims of, or at risk of child exploitation.
More than 120 people attended the event at the West Mill in Darley Abbey, including various local businesses.
The night began with sponsoring a horse for the various races, the sponsors included Loates HR Consultancy, Wathall’s funeral director, Cosy Direct, HUUB, Mercia Image Print, No.6 The Square Tearooms and Accommodation, Dains Accountants, Derby Daybreak Rotary Club and Colleague Box.
There was some fantastic prizes up for grabs too, these were donated by local businesses including HUUB, Beyond Balloons UK, Derby County Football Club and The Shed.
With it being Safe & Sound’s first fundraising event since the pandemic, it was evident that everyone in attendance was ready for a fun-filled evening and was eager to dig deep to raise money for the local cause.
Mark Richardson, Partner at BB&J Commercial and Chair of Trustees at Safe and Sound said, “It was so much fun to have so many people from Derby’s great business community all in one room again. The support given to Safe and Sound was absolutely fantastic, and as a charity the help it gives us cannot be underestimated. I’m really enjoying my role as Chair, and I’m very keen to get as many businesses as possible supporting Safe and Sound and engaging with us to help with the positive support we provide to children and young people in Derby.”
Amey Hellen, Digital Communications and Marketing Co-Ordinator added, “after such a challenging year for many, it was great to finally be in attendance of such a rewarding event. Not only was the Race Night a great laugh with colleagues and business connections, it was a brilliant and innovative way of raising money. Being a competitive person, I was eager to win and placed many bets in aid of the charity. I was quite lucky and ended up winning the murder mystery game, along with a bottle of whisky which my partner will certainly enjoy!”
“I want to say a huge thank you to Tracy and her wonderful team of people, who hosted a brilliant night and are truly a huge inspiration to the Derby community.”
In 2021 the specialist local charity worked with 292 individuals. This includes 203 young people (compared with 150 the previous year) who are victims of or at risk of child exploitation such as online grooming, sexual exploitation, coercion to run drugs through County Lines, trafficking, Modern Slavery and radicalisation. The figure also includes 49 families whose children are being groomed and exploited.
During the past 12 months, Safe and Sound also engaged with more than 3,100 young people through outreach activities in local communities such as Derby city centre, Long Eaton and Swadlincote. This is in addition to the 1,000 attendees at a wide range of youth activities ranging from sports and arts and crafts to team building and cultural events.
For more information about the work of Safe and Sound and how to support the charity, please visit www.safeandsoundgroup.org.uk and follow on social media channels.
