Berry Recruitment counts on staff for fundraising

Berry Recruitment has given the fight against cancer a boost with a companywide fundraising drive in its 27 branches.

Dedicated employees the length and breadth of the country joined in a whole host of activities in aid of Cancer Research UK.

They included staff in the company’s Portsmouth, Gosport, Poole and Southampton offices.

Employees were on the ball with World Cup themed events, competitions, fancy dress, games and a Guess the Number of Jelly Beans in a Jar contest.

Lee Briggs, manager of the Sutton branch, tackled the British 10 K London Run.

Debby Clayton, operations manager at the Northampton branch, also played her part by joining in the Race for Life in Oxford.

With the final totals now collected, the branches and head office in St Albans, Herts, have succeeded in raising more than £1,000 of much needed funds.

Spencer Berry, who is Berry Recruitment’s business development director, said: “We’ve held events for other charities before but this was our first for Cancer Research UK.

“As always, our superb staff rose to the occasion with everyone at our 27 offices nationwide involved in fundraising activities.

“Thanks go to them all and everyone who supported them to make it such a success. It was great fun, and rewarding to be able to help such a worthwhile charity as Cancer Research UK.”

In the Jelly Bean contest, Maria Hussain, from the Birmingham branch, claimed the honours – and the jar – with the closest guess of 1,590, just six out from the 1,584 target.

A total of £1,005 was raised during the activities over two days in July, including a company contribution.

Previous fundraisers have included a Wear it Pink day last October for the Breast Cancer Campaign and a Purple Day for the Stroke Association in March.

Figures from Cancer Research UK show that more than 330,000 people are diagnosed with cancer every year in the UK.

Cancers of the breast, lung, prostrate and bowel account for 54 per cent of all new cancer cases.

A spokesman for Cancer Research UK said: “I would like to extend our grateful thanks to Berry Recruitment and their employees for the wonderful donation of £1,005.

“Cancer Research UK has made enormous progress in the fight against cancer and continues to do so.

“However, we have only been able to do this thanks to the dedication and commitment of people like Berry Recruitment without whom we would not be able to fund our vital research.”

Berry Recruitment has grown rapidly in recent years both organically and through acquisition.

The company recently acquired Croydon-based PRC  Employment as it continues to expand.

Berry Recruitment expects turnover to rise to more than £50m in 2014.