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MVIS Maximises Giving with Donation

At the time of year that is most known for generosity and giving, MVIS and Bartco UK are not ones to miss such an opportunity, and in true keeping with our general ethos, we aren’t ones to do half a job either. This is why, during the Christmas build up in 2019, team members from MVIS and Bartco UK embarked on a ‘giving mission’ that would seek to maximise the impact a simple community donation could make.

The idea, put forward by the company’s ‘moral compass’, Jon Larkins, was to ensure that our impact was felt across the community with a single donation, bringing happiness to more people than if we had just taken part in a traditional donation.

But why is this important?

Late in 2019, Matlock and surrounding areas in Derbyshire and South Yorkshire were hit by drastic flooding, taking some businesses local to MVIS and Bartco UK out of action – a tragedy at the best of times, but being so close to Christmas made this all the more worse.

This local crisis was felt by some more than others, but few felt the devastation more than Freya King, a young entrepreneur whose business is based in Matlock. Freya had prepared for months to open a children’s book shop, Toy Stories, only for opening day to coincide with the very same day that the River Derwent decided to burst its banks. Flooding the area her shop was located in and doing thousands of pounds worth of damage, a lot of stock and her brand-new shop was covered in 4 inches of water.

Freya had no idea when she would reopen, casting the immediate future of her shop in worrying jeopardy. However, in a move of incredible hard work and dedication, she managed to open only a few days later bringing the community of Matlock the children’s book shop it needed just in time for Christmas.

Initially, our plan idea was to simply respond to a traditional Christmas Present Appeal, which take place across countless charities around the world in order to deliver presents to children at Christmas who may otherwise not get any. However, in this move of altruistic genius, Jon’s idea was to not only deliver on the Present Appeal, but to do so with items purchased from Freya’s shop due to her extremely unfortunate luck, giving her business a helping hand whilst also helping the chosen Present Appeal.

Members of the team rushed to take on the duty of ‘Santa’, which fell as 2 separate tasks – purchasing the items from Matlock town centre and then delivering them. Responsible for the purchasing task and keeping true to their job titles, Bec, Bartco UK’s Purchasing & Stock Supervisor and Pip, Purchasing Assistant, were granted the task of the shopping spree.

Upon arriving at Toy Stories, the reasons for us being there were explained to Freya. Despite the hardship she has seen recently, she offered us a discount on the basis that the items were for charity in an incredible show of generosity and warmth, allowing us to get a few extra books and toys to max out our budget and help make a few extra children’s Christmas special.

But this was only half the task at hand. With Freya’s donation by way of discount, this made the job of delivering these gifts even more important as it was no longer just our donation – we needed the right person to do the job of delivering and who else would have been better than our very own Santa Claus himself – Mr Jon Larkins.

After taking a company vote, it was decided that the Salvation Army Present Appeal was best for us to donate to, with strong community links all over the area, we knew that any gifts donated would certainly go to a good cause. Once decided, Jon took off in his sleigh to deliver the gifts to an officer of the local Salvation Army who warmly accepted us into her home to make the drop off.

But the giving doesn’t stop there from MVIS and Bartco UK. All throughout December we have a variety of community and charity initiatives that are all aimed at giving back during this time of festive cheer. So keep checking back on our website for more details on what we’ve been up to.

Anyone wishing to donate to the Salvation Army can find more information on their website.