An interview with our charity lead
Director John Hauton heads up the charity activities at CPW, coordinating the charity working group and overseeing all fundraising events. Charity work is a big part of John’s life, both at work and at home, making him the perfect person to lead with passion in this area. We speak to John about his experiences.
Is charity important to CPW?
CPW have been involved in charity work for a long time, and rather than big corporate efforts (although those do happen), I find that we’ve always taken a really personal approach to getting stuck in and helping wherever we can. One example that sticks in my mind is from when I joined the company nearly 20 years ago. Bob Langman, one of the Directors at the time, read in his local newspaper about a family who had been burgled. Without hesitation, he took furniture from his house to this family he didn’t know – inspiring us all to ask ourselves how we can help.
This ‘get-stuck-in’ attitude is something that many people at CPW share and we have seen all sorts of amazing initiatives throughout the years. More recently, we thought it was time to formalise our activities and introduce a more coordinated effort, and this is how the charity working group came to be. I was asked to lead this group and I love it – I would give up all this engineering in a heartbeat to focus on charity work if I could!
What does the charity working group do at CPW?
We have our own charity, CPW4LIFE, of which we have a number of trustees who are all CPW employees. In each office, we also have charity ambassadors who coordinate regional efforts. The trustees meet to discuss plans for the year, whether that’s local fundraising quizzes or company-wide activities like our charity days.
Tell us more about the charity days
Last year, we committed to closing all our offices for two days a year to allow staff to take part in charity activities in small teams. Each team gets involved with a cause that really matters to them. We’ve found not only is this a great way to give back to a wide range of local charities, the activities are even more meaningful to our staff if there is a personal connection. By allowing them to pick the causes, you get to know each other better – you understand more about their lives, their families, their experiences – it brings us closer together.
Last year we saw some brilliant activities, from volunteering in the kitchen at homeless shelters and at foodbanks, to gardening for care homes and wildlife trusts. We were amazed at the positive response from both our staff and the beneficiaries. This is definitely something we will continue again this year.
Do you have to be involved in the group to organise charitable activities?
Not at all, anyone can bring their ideas to the table. Just over the last two months we have seen:
a quiz night to raise money for Marie Curie, in memory of our dear colleague Chris Ward
a charity raffle raising an amazing £1,347 for the British Heart Foundation, in memory of our dear colleague Mark Morris
our yearly KidsOut Giving Tree campaign which this year saw the equivalent of £337.50 in gifts donated to children in local refuge homes
a chocolate raffle for Age UK Solihull that raised £75
Donations of blankets, warm clothes and food parcels for a school in Birmingham with high deprivation rates
Donations for local animal shelters
Can you tell us about the charity work you take part in outside of work?
Outside of work, I like to help wherever I can. I’m Chair of Trustees of a brass band which is a charity and part of a church, which helps me connect with a wide range of people in my local community. If I hear of people struggling, I will do whatever I can to help – and being an engineer often comes in handy! Sometimes that means grabbing my tools and heading out to help a family whose electricity has cut out, or helping to arrange donation campaigns.
Last year, we took part in the AOK5000 campaign which aimed to donate winter hampers to households struggling with the cost of living crisis, which I shared with my CPW colleagues and saw some incredibly generous donations.
Most recently, I went to the Gambia to volunteer with New Life Children's Centre. The charity aims to fight poverty through education, having built two schools that provide access to full-time education and healthcare to over 1,300 children, and offer outreach support to the local communities. I had the opportunity to support the organisation with repairs and building works (again, putting those engineering skills to use!) as well as working with the children.
I think it’s going to be an exciting year ahead for charity activities at CPW!
Want to find out more about our recent charity work? Read about our last charity day in September.