At Weatherbeeta we believe in doing good wherever we can and encourage our staff to take on projects that are meaningful to them, whatever they may be and always with our full support. Over the years our team members have jumped out of airplanes, dressed up, baked cakes, run marathons, organized black tie events and even tried to put a jumper on a chicken! The list of charities our teams have supported is extensive and far reaching, from Cancer Research to Willberry Wonder Pony, Urban Equestrian to the British Heart Foundation, from the NHS to the BHS. It is an eclectic list for a diverse team.

As we begin 2021, we wanted to look back at the extraordinary year of 2020 and take a moment to recognise the great work our teams have done in supporting the causes closest to them.

Dogs for Good

Earlier this year, Social Media & Brand Executive Rebecca Marshall, proposed we support local charity Dogs for Good. Dogs for Good make life-changing differences for people with disabilities through the power of expertly trained dogs. They provide assistance to adults and children giving them practical support, which enables greater independence and confidence. The dogs also prove invaluable in homes affected by autism.

Thanks to Rebecca’s determination to support the charity we adopted one of the puppies and our followers helped us name her Chloe. Throughout the next year we will be following Chloe’s journey as she takes the first steps towards becoming an aid dog.  

Knitting for the NHS

Mel Evetts, from our Customer Service team, is no stranger when it comes to doing good having supported a long list of charities over the years. As the fires raged in Australia, Mel decided to join a local crafting group to help knit nests and Joey pouches for the displaced bush animals.

Her knitting soon escalated though as she led the efforts of an Oxfordshire Facebook Crafting Group in their support for the NHS. Between them they knitted 15,000 scrub bags, 975 sets of scrubs, scrub hats, and Dr Bears to thank the children of NHS staff. In addition, they also made bonding squares and paired hearts that were distributed to patients that found themselves isolated in hospital without access to their loved ones. By being able to hold on to the same item that their loved ones were holding on the end of the phone helped bridge the distance between them. 

We were left in awe of Mel’s efforts throughout the pandemic who rose above everyone’s expectations to support those in the most need.

 

Championing Education 

Another member of staff that is no stranger to fundraising is Sales Director Bea Meitiner, who takes on a different challenge each year to raise funds for a worthy cause. Bea, who describes herself as a philanthropic rider, had been due to run a marathon in Sierra Leone during 2020 to improve the access kids have to education, but the pandemic put a stop to this and therefore decided that if pain wasn’t going to get her donations she would arrange an epic equestrian raffle instead.

As is so common within our community, top riders and brands jumped at the opportunity to support a good cause, which in this case, was to provide the children of Sierra Leone with an education. It has been shown time and time again that giving universal access to education and in particular to girls is instrumental in lifting whole communities out of poverty.

With the support of William Fox-Pitt, Lucinda Green, Jonty Evans and Bill Levett, and with over £1,200 worth of WeatherBeeta, Dublin and Collegiate products, Bea was able to raise the necessary £2,500 to finish the construction of a school in a remote village of Sierra Leone where currently they had no access to education.

 

If you can be anything, be kind.

 

These are just a few examples of the amazing work our team have done this year. Every day they inspire us to do better and be better and we are incredibly grateful for how they have come together during such a challenging year.

 

We would love to hear any feel good stories you would like to share with us. Do leave a comment.