Supporting Our Communities in 2023

Part of the Calderdale and Kirklees communities for over 130 years, Wilkinson Woodward has long been passionate about supporting local charities and good causes. During 2023, we were involved with a wide range of events and activities. Here’s a quick reminder of some of the highlights.

Supporting the arts

The arts play an important part in the life of our communities, and we are keen to give our support. In April, we were sponsors of the Celia Imrie event at the Huddersfield Literature Festival. Best known as an Olivier-award-winning actor, Celia is also a bestselling author and the event saw her talk about her novel, Orphans of the Storm.

In November, the team sponsored the Almondbury Jazz Festival with an advert in the programme. The festival sees live jazz bands playing in venues in and around the Huddersfield village and the money raised goes to charity. In 2023, the festival raised £4,000, for the mental health charity, Platform 1.

Art of a different kind saw the team sponsoring and decorating a tree at the annual Halifax Minster Tree Festival. With more than 30 trees decked out in sparkling finery, the seasonal event was a huge success, attracting people from all over West Yorkshire. Thanks go to colleagues Kate Machon, Max Fenton and Grace Smith for their artistic endeavours.

Helping the local environment

Kirklees and Calderdale have some beautiful countryside and we enjoy helping people make the most of these areas of natural beauty. To this end, we made a £500 donation to the Friends of Grimescar who are trying to improve the facilities in this scenic valley and its woodland. The donation was used to purchase three benches with plaques so those visiting the area could sit and admire the views.

On the subject of views, we also made a donation to the Halifax Rotary Club towards the construction of a viewing platform of Beacon Hill, which overlooks the town. 2023 was the year of Halifax Rotary Club’s centenary, and its centenary project was to create the platform and gift its ownership to Calderdale Council for the use of the public. We are happy to let you know that the project was a success, and the viewing platform was opened by Halifax MP Holly Lynch, with the Mayor of Calderdale, Councillor Ashley Evans, in attendance.

Supporting local charities

Our local areas have many charities doing invaluable work for our communities and Wilkinson Woodward is proud to give its support. In April, we hosted a charity quiz in aid of Overgate Hospice at the Shay Stadium. The quiz, together with a pie dinner and raffle, raised £1400 for the charity. We would like to thank the 23 teams who joined in the event and the businesses and individuals who donated the raffle prizes. Our support for Overgate didn’t end there, however, in July, three members of the Wilkinson Woodward team attended the Overgate Hospice Golf Day at Bradley Hall Golf Club.

A little more energy was required when we raised money for the Forget Me Not Children’s Hospice in May. This saw the team take part in a 5k colour run around Greenhead Park in Huddersfield. A fun family day out, the team raised a whopping £1,284.00 for the hospice.

June saw the 65^th Halifax Charity Gala, an event at Manor Heath, Halifax, which attracts thousands of people every year and which currently supports over 60 local charities. This year we were proud to sponsor the inside front page of the gala’s programme. Also at Manor Heath, the firm was a Gold Sponsor of the RSPCA’s 2023 K9 Party in the Park event in July. Raising funds for the RSPCA Halifax, Huddersfield, Bradford & District Branch, over 1500 people attended, including Wilkinson Woodward staff. The event included stalls, children’s activities, food stands, music, dog-themed party games and, of course, a dog show.

Towards the end of November, the team had a stall at Brighouse Christmas Market, complete with Santa, which raised £260 for Focus4Hope, a Brighouse-based charity that helps the homeless, elderly, isolated and vulnerable. It also operates a food bank in Brighouse, delivering dozens of food parcels each week.

As Christmas neared, the teams across all our offices donned their Christmas Jumpers, raising £255 for the Save The Children Christmas Jumper Day. Meanwhile, colleagues in Huddersfield were spurred on by Pulse1’s radio presenters to donate gifts to the station’s Mission Christmas, which aims to make sure no child in West and North Yorkshire wakes up without a present to unwrap on Christmas Day.

As 2024 begins, we look forward to supporting even more charities and good causes. In the meantime, we would like to thank our clients for their support throughout 2023 and wish them all the best for the year ahead.