Employees at one of the world's leading manufacturers of dental products, Prima Dental, have gone the extra mile and then some in 2024 to raise thousands of pounds for a leading children's charity.
As voted for by staff as their charity of the year, the team at the Gloucester-based, global manufacturer has been fundraising all year for Winston's Wish, which supports children and young adults in the UK with bereavement and grief.
A committee of Prima employees have volunteered their time around their working schedules to organise a host of activities and events including raffles, fun days and a 600km collective cycle in aid of the charity.
The team have so far raised just short of £7,000 — and are aiming to raise even more by the end of the year.
One of the biggest fundraising events has been its 'Prima to Paris' cycle — an in-house ride at its Waterwells headquarters on two static exercise bikes, which alone raised £2,500 — with one Prima employee also running the Cheltenham Half Marathon to raise money for the charity on behalf of the company.
In the summer, the team hosted an 'old school sports day' fundraiser featuring classic events including sack, egg and spoon and space hopper races; as well as a raffle of prizes including a sweets voucher, brownies, a free term of dance lessons and a car MOT.
Earlier in the year there was an 'around the world' bake sale at Prima headquarters, with offerings including Portuguese madeira cake, Polish mini doughnuts and Slovakian Lupačky rolls, as well as another raffle at Easter; with the committee having organised a quiz night and Christmas raffle for December, too.
The Winston’s Wish team also visited Prima to give a talk on grief in the workplace, after which employees volunteered their time to put together activity packs aimed at helping children being supported by the charity to express their emotions.
The UK's first childhood bereavement charity founded in 1992, Winston's Wish offers access to online resources and support for children and young people who are grieving the death of someone important to them, as well as facilitating peer support groups and one-to-one support sessions.
A recipient of a prestigious King’s Award for Enterprise for International Trade in 2024, Prima Dental manufactures millions of dental burs every year to supply to practices around the world, employing more than 250 local people at its Gloucester headquarters and production facility.
