‘If there’s one positive thing to come out of the pandemic, it’s the community spirit’
Tom Murtagh, left, with fellow fundraiser Joe Emery . Picture: Saint Francis Hospice - Credit: Archant
From paternity leave to furlough and now back to work, Tom Murtagh, corporate partnerships manager at Saint Francis Hospice, Havering-atte-Bower, explains how life has been for him these past five months
In March, the world changed so much within such a short space of time.
I was on paternity leave when the lockdown hit, and after only a few days back to work I was furloughed. I then returned to the hospice at the start of June.
It’s been incredibly strange being away from the hospice for so long. After over three months at home with my family, I’m now back in my role to lead the corporate fundraising team.
We work with businesses both big and small, looking to engage them in the work of the hospice and to support them in their fundraising for our patients and their care.
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Our supporters range from huge, household names such as West Ham United FC to businesses on the high street and everything in between.
Companies support us in many different ways, it’s not always about the cash they can give.
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Support can come through volunteering their time to help us or providing services at a reduced cost.
Being socially responsible is so important, maybe now more so than ever to customers as well as employees, so working with a charity like ours really demonstrates a company’s commitment to their community.
If there’s one positive thing to come out of the pandemic, it’s the community spirit of everyone coming together.
Companies are very aware of the funding challenges we are facing as a result of the coronavirus pandemic and have still wanted to support us, despite uncertainty with their own businesses. And the kindness we’ve received from businesses in our community has been overwhelming.
Adapting to the “new normal” is something that we are all going to have to work together on, and we are keen to work with other local businesses to see how we can support each other in this.
We’d love to hear from any companies who would like to get involved and do something incredible for local people by working with us to come up with mutually beneficial ways to engage their staff and customers.
If you’d like to find out more about how you and your colleagues can make a difference, while having lots of team-building fun along the way, then please email me and my team at corporatefundraising@sfh.org.uk
