A ‘plum’ birthday celebration raises £500 for Broadway Lodge

Award-winning PR and marketing agency, Plum Communications & PR, marked its fourth birthday with a charity quiz that generated £500 for local treatment centre and charity, Broadway Lodge, Plum’s charity of the year.

As well as celebrating Plum’s successful growth, the anniversary event held in Weston-super-Mare promoted and raised funds for the education outreach programme that Broadway Lodge runs in schools across Somerset.

The evening attracted support from a variety of causes, with local companies such as Knightstone Housing and Cognition Learning & Development entering teams, The Golden Lion donating the venue, supper and quizmaster for the evening. Santander Business Banking acted as an official sponsor and match funded the money raised on the night.

Director of Plum, Karen Morledge, organised the evening and said: “It was great to be able to celebrate Plum’s four years in business collectively with so many clients and supporters of Plum. To raise £250 on the evening, which has then been matched by our business banking partner Santander, is a great achievement.

“I’d also like to thank The Golden Lion for their generous hospitality and also the local Somerset businesses who kindly donated raffle prizes, including The Barn beauty salon, Mendip Outdoor Pursuits and Sunshine productions, the producers of The Addams Family, a local musical. We look forward to enjoying our fifth year in business and celebrating in a similar way; same time next year!”

Brian Dudley, chief executive of Broadway Lodge, said: “The Broadway Lodge outreach programme sees our counsellors visiting schools to have ‘no nonsense’ discussions with children and young people. The hard-hitting facts they deliver, along with their own personal experiences, provide a powerful warning about alcohol, drugs, gaming and self-harm.

“We’re extremely grateful for Plum’s support with general PR and marketing, as well as the money they’ve raised; with it we’re hopeful that we can extend the programme to other schools in the area and highlight how addiction can take hold in people’s lives, while breaking the stigma attached to it.”

Speaking of Santander’s support for the event, Will Taylor, customer manager for Santander’s business banking in North Somerset, commented: “When Karen told me about what Broadway Lodge do to both prevent addiction, and facilitate the recovery of those affected by it, I knew it was a charity that Santander would take pleasure in supporting. We’d like to wish Broadway Lodge and Plum Communications & PR continued success with their ventures.”

Plum Communications & PR have been providing PR and marketing services across the South West since Karen set up her business from home in 2010. 2013 saw the business expand into offices in Bleadon while Plum are also scouting another location in the South West, as a result of their growth plans.

This year, Broadway Lodge celebrate their 40th year providing recovery in North Somerset. If you would like to donate to Plum’s charity of the year text ‘BWLG40’ to 70070 to donate £3.