Two neighbouring businesses at Darley Abbey Mills have been recognised in the Derbyshire Live Business Awards.
Specialist child exploitation charity Safe and Sound won the Not for Profit Organisation of the year award. Meanwhile Loates HR Consultancy won the Contribution to the Community award which applauded the company’s support for charities and community organisations, including Safe and Sound.
For Loates HR, this was a double following team member, Matilda Swanson bagging Female Employee of the Year at the East Midland’s Chamber Enterprising Women Awards.
Both businesses celebrated together on the night of the awards. They regularly share expertise and support each other on different projects.
For both organisations their home in the mills is very much a community. In December Safe and Sound and Loates HR will be inviting fellow Darley Abbey Mills businesses to join a fund raising social event that they are jointly hosting at the mills.
Staff at businesses across the different mills will be invited to dress in their favourite festive outfit and enjoy refreshments together in return for the donation to Safe and Sound’s Christmas campaign.
Community engagement is also very much supported by Anthony Attwood, from Patterns Properties. Anthony, through his role with the Rotarians has also raised money for Safe and Sound allowing visitors to this year’s Darley concert to park at the mill for a donation to the charity.
The fund raising will help Safe and Sound expand its work to support children and young people across Derbyshire who are victims of or at risk of child exploitation. This includes online grooming, sexual exploitation, trafficking, drugs lines, modern slavery and radicalisation. The charity also supports the wider family and raises awareness in local communities of the dangers facing young people.
Safe and Sound CEO Tracy Harrison said: “We were so delighted not only with our own award but with Loates HR’s well-deserved recognition.
“Collaboration is the key to success for any business and organisation and we are now looking forward to bringing together all of our neighbours in Darley Abbey Mills to celebration Christmas Jumper Day and enjoy some festive refreshments together.”
Sarah Loates continued: “Being part of the community where we run our business is at the heart of what we do. We hope that this will be the first of many different social gatherings in the mills which are home to so many interesting and innovative businesses and organisations.
“It will be great to learn more about our neighbours and to explore how we can work closer together for mutual benefit in the coming months and years.”
Anthony Attwood, from Patterns Properties concluded: “It is great to see more and more Darley Abbey Mills businesses working in collaboration and we all particularly look forward to coming together in the run up to Christmas to raise money for our resident charity Safe and Sound.”
To find out more about Christmas Jumper Day at Darley Abbey Mills on December 10, please email [email protected].