Kier Rocks Stoke

Published by Elizabeth Pokorny for Kier Services in Communities

Charity concert raises money for Barnardo’s

Kier rocked Stoke-on-Trent for one night only in a musical fundraising evening for children’s charity, Barnardo’s. Held at the Trent Vale Working Men’s Club, the Kier Rocks event raised nearly £1,000, aided by raffle prizes donated by local companies including Potteries Gifts, Snowdome, Sudbury Hall, Courses for Horses and the National Forest Adventure Farm.

Employees from local repairs and maintenance provider Kier and its suppliers gathered to watch local band Start The Car perform live, followed by a hog roast and a western cowboy display from The Regulators. There was also balloon modelling and face painting for younger rockers provided by Funtastic Entertainments. The evening ended with a disco hosted by DJ David Ffleary.

Kier regional managing director, David Mawson, said: “So far this year, Kier Stoke has raised £1,700 for Barnardo’s. All of the money raised will be used by the charity to benefit the local community throughout Staffordshire. We’re proud to be able to contribute to allow the great work the charity carries out to continue. A big thank you to all the local businesses who donated prizes for our raffle, as well as Trent Vale Working Men’s Club for donating the use of the hall.”

In total, over £50k has been raised on behalf of Barnardo’s by Kier Services and The Kier Foundation, with a recent six-hour endurance karting challenge in Milton Keynes contributing a large portion. The event was attended by Kier managing director for maintenance, Peter Brynes, who said: “It was great to see Kier’s team spirit in full force with colleagues and suppliers coming together to ensure we raised as much money as possible for Barnardo’s. We have really got behind the charity and are looking at ways to maximise our fundraising efforts both regionally and nationally.”

Earlier in the year Kier Stoke also held a ‘Go Green’ day to raise money for Barnado’s. The Kier team dressed up in green attire to match the charity’s logo and held a competition to name two Barnardo’s teddy bears, raising over £210 for the charity.

Working across the country, Barnardo’s transforms the lives of more than 190,000 children and young people every year. Around one third of its work focuses on alleviating child poverty and last year more than 1,600 families living in poverty were helped by work funded by donations to the charity.