Teesside Manufacturer and Hospice join forces
A Teesside-based insulation manufacturer has joined up with Teesside Hospice to offer support across the next year, as the hospice aims to deliver better end of life care across the region.
Tapered Plus, which is based in Stockton-on-Tees, has joined Teesside Hospice as a corporate partner, pledging to support the charity through fundraising and volunteering.
This partnership follows a long and personal connection with local hospice care for Aman Chahal, CEO at Tapered Plus, who is a long-term supporter of Butterwick Hospice. Teesside Hospice and Butterwick Hospice recently merged to ensure long-term sustainability of services across the Tees Valley and County Durham.
Aman said: “When my son was 7, a really good friend’s dad was diagnosed with a brain tumour and he had end of life care at Butterwick Hospice.
“That was the first time I actually saw what a hospice can do for patients and families. I remember driving to the hospice itself to visit him and we had a lot of nerves and anxiety. But the empathy we felt straight away, how warm everyone was and the way they really rolled out the red carpet for everyone accessing the services left a lasting impression.
“That’s 10 years ago now and I’ve supported Butterwick since. Each year we choose a new local charity to support and when I recalled those memories, Teesside Hospice felt like a perfect choice.”
Kelly Petts, Office and Business Support Manager at Tapered Plus added: “You think a hospice is just death and that it’s a sad place, but as soon as you walk into Teesside Hospice you feel how lovely, friendly, homely and warm it is. It’s a home from home, and everyone you meet is so nice.
“We’re a B Corp company and one of our pillars is about community. Each staff member at Tapered Plus gets two charity days a year, which they can spend volunteering and giving back. We’ve got so many ideas of how we can use this time to support Teesside Hospice with some team volunteering.
“We’re also going to be fundraising for the hospice throughout the year – we’ve already signed up for a Tea for Teesside coffee morning with the team and I’m going to be taking on a skydive!
“It’s great for team bonding and builds a lot of gratitude. I’ve got an elderly dad, another of my colleagues has recently lost his dad and this is the sort of thing that gets the team to open up.”
Aman continued: “We’ve got the mindset that whatever you give, you get twice as much back. We want to encourage other companies on Teesside to think the same way and get involved.
“We really want to bang the drum for the hospice.”
Hassan Hameed, Corporate Partnerships Manager at Teesside Hospice added: “We’re delighted to have Aman, Kelly and the Tapered Plus team on board as corporate partners.
“It costs £7.5 million annually to run our services and around 70% of this we must raise ourselves. We simply couldn’t do that without the support of businesses like Tapered Plus, who so generously give their time, money and efforts to ensure we can continue to make an impact on people across Teesside.”
To find out more about Teesside Hospice and its services, visit www.teessidehospice.org, and to discuss corporate support, contact [email protected].