Company news Pensord ‘Walks The Walk’ to raise money for charity

Pensord ‘Walks The Walk’ to raise money for charity

Valleys Printer ‘Walks The Walk’ to raise £5,662 for hospice,

Staff at leading Pontllanfraith-based printer Pensord raised £5,662 in a sponsored walk for its adopted charity, the Hospice of the Valleys at Cwmcarn Scenic Drive recently.

Over 80 people took part in the ‘Walk the Walk for the Hospice’ - Pensord’s first fundraising event for the Hospice since the charity was adopted in the summer. The company has a charity team made up of employees, and they came up with the Hospice as the company’s worthy cause. Over £6,500 had already been raised from a share of its profits and from a scheme that sees £1 go to the charity every time a customer asks for a quote on a print job.

Staff, their families and friends followed the six mile Sunday morning route through the beautiful countryside at Cwmcarn. It was called ‘Walk the Walk’ because the company prides itself on doing what it says it will do – not just ‘talking the talk’. Stitching Operator Gavin Drobac said: “It’s great to be involved and to put something back into the community.”

Pensord Chief Executive Tony Jones said: “We were really pleased at the turnout for our first event, and people put in a lot of effort to raise the total we achieved, including a number of our generous customers. We are delighted at the amount raised with our first event, and we’ll be handing over the total raised so far to the charity before Christmas, and carry on fundraising throughout 2006.”

Pensord was attracted to the charity because of its nationally recognised track record in caring for local people in their homes. The Hospice is well established with strong local links with the heath service and other healthcare providers in the area.

The Hospice of the Valleys is based in Tredegar, and provides free, high quality care in their own homes for patients in the area who are suffering from life-threatening illnesses, empowering 70% of those choosing to die at home to fulfil their wishes.  Comprehensive support is also given to their families, from diagnosis all the way through.

The charity won this year’s national GlaxoSmithKline Impact Award for Excellence in Community Healthcare for what was described as “one of the most comprehensive outreach palliative care services in the UK.”

Tony Jones again: “I’m grateful to the Forestry Commission and Caerphilly Council for their help in the organisation of the walk, and for ASDA in Caerphilly for their donation of refreshments. I’m proud of everyone’s efforts, and look forward to the next fundraising event for the Hospice.”

Andrew Richards, Managing Director of the Hospice of the Valleys said: “We are delighted to have the support of Pensord Press. It is vital that we raise enough funds to support this essential service to those with a life threatening illness and their families, and initiatives such as this will help us realise our target of £15,000 per week. All the staff and patients at the Hospice wish to thank the people at Pensord for their support.”