Charity receives refurb and donation from Mondelez employees

Volunteers boosted by headquarters facelift.

Sandwell Advocacy, a charity committed to supporting vulnerable people, has been given a facelift thanks to employees at Mondelēz International in Bournville.

More than fifteen members of the Birmingham based team spent three days renovating the charity’s centre in Sandwell, as well as getting a close-up look at how this small charity is putting a previous donation to use.

Back in June 2017, Mondelēz International colleagues voted Sandwell Advocacy as its charity of choice and donated £5,000 from the Cadbury Foundation. As the team painted and redecorated the whole building, the charity and its beneficiaries showcased exactly what the money has been used for.

Sandwell Advocacy was founded in 1993 to help local people in difficult circumstances be heard, understand their rights, and listen to all concerns they have. The charity also has separate projects for supporting young carers in their everyday life, and for older cancer sufferers as they come to terms with their illness.

The Cadbury Foundation grant has enabled them to continue and grow their cancer advocacy programme enabling the recruitment, development and application of new advocates, who are all volunteers.

The Mondelēz International team will continue to fundraise throughout 2018 for Sandwell Advocacy, with the money raised being used to help even more local people.

Dave Bradshaw, project co-ordinator at Sandwell Advocacy, said: “The support from the Mondelēz International team has been overwhelming. For a team to give up three days of their time to completely makeover our centre is incredible, and it will make such a difference to the staff that work here and the local people who use the space.

“The donation from the team earlier in the year has already had a huge impact – we’ve been able to train new advocates so we can help even more people when they need it most.”

Jonathan Horrell, Cadbury Foundation trustee, said: “The team have done an amazing job and we’re all proud of their efforts. Many small local charities often get overlooked, so it’s important for The Cadbury Foundation to support the passions of our colleagues. Sandwell Advocacy do profoundly important work so I’m thrilled they were selected to receive the grant and receive support from the team to renovate the centre.”