The generosity of people at the LMB has shone through again this year with a number of recent charity events, culminating in the traditional Christmas charity raffle. During December, the combined efforts of staff raised over £1,500 for various charities.
The LMB Christmas charity raffle, originally started in the early 1970s, has raised in excess of £27,000 since 2000. Each year the charity has been selected because it has either helped a member of staff or their family, or is in memory of a colleague. This year’s raffle has raised funds for Cerebra, a charity supported by the late Chris Oubridge. Cerebra is a national charity that helps children with brain conditions and their families discover a better life together.
This year the draw took place online and £1245 was raised for Cerebra. This included a donation of £177 from the LMB’s Craft and Chatter Group, who held an al-fresco pop-up shop in the LMB’s garden. They sold a wide-assortment of home-made items by the group and other members of the LMB, including crocheted Christmas pudding tree-decorations, animal bookmarks and pocket pals, handmade cards and the must have accessory – Christmas themed face coverings.
Earlier in December, to mark the start of the festive season, the LMB had its first formal switching on of its Christmas lights. The main switch on was performed by Freda Chapman from the LMB’s Domestic Services team. Jillian Deans, Head of Health & Safety, said: “Freda always decorates her cleaning trolley for Christmas, getting bigger and brighter each year so she was the ideal person to do the big switch on. The lights have certainly brightened up the building and lifted the mood.”
Freda, a local ambassador for the Marie-Curie Cancer Charity, also held a Christmas stall selling homemade cards and decorations. The sale raised £294, half of which went to Marie Curie and the other half went to the East Anglian Air Ambulance (EAAA) charity.
LMB Director, Jan Löwe, commented: “Thank you to all at the LMB who made these events happen and came up with new ways of doing things. Also to everyone who made all of the events a great success with their generous donations and support, even more so in these challenging times.”
We hope that all members of the LMB as well as our friends and colleagues around the world have a happy and safe Christmas and that we get to see you all sometime in the New Year.