Families to benefit from “game changing” support to local charity

Vulnerable residents in North Staffordshire are set to benefit after the UK’s leading parcel delivery company pledged to support locally based Alice Charity, both financially and with hands on practical help, including IT equipment and transportation.

The plan, which has been described as ‘game changing’ by the charity, will see DPD support Alice Charity financially over the next 12 months and establish a network of other businesses that can help Alice in their work to combat poverty.

Alice supports children and families within the communities of Stoke-on-Trent and Newcastle-Under-Lyme, in times of crisis. They support vulnerable families over a period of time, to develop both independence and resilience, by breaking the cycle of poverty and ensuring that the impacts from hardship have minimal effect on the children.

Core services include skills development, such as parenting techniques and budgeting; regular emotional and well-being support, signposting, emergency food parcels, as well as provision of essential equipment.

DPD’s UK Chief Executive Dwain McDonald, who originates from Stoke and lives in Longsdon, has partnered with another local senior executive, Pete Davenport, of SG Fleet UK. Together, they have agreed to host a series of breakfast meetings at DPD’s Etruria offices, off Forge Lane, which is the headquarters for the DPD Pickup parcel shop network. The sessions will be aimed at local organisations and businesses to showcase the work the charity does in the area and will explore ways in which organisations and individuals can get involved with the charity.

The breakfast meetings will take place on Friday 13 September and Friday 27 September between 8:30am and 9:30am at DPD Pickup, Festival Park, Etruria Office Village, Stoke-on-Trent, ST1 5SY.

Everyone is welcome, and the Alice team will be on-hand giving presentations on projects they are working on, explaining how they benefit people within the community and how organisations can get involved.

DPD’s CEO Dwain McDonald commented: “Alice is a fantastic charity and our staff at our Etruria office have been supporting them for several months, providing food and other donations. But we want to try and help further, and one of the ways we can do that is by getting other businesses in the area involved too. Like most small charities, they need funds, but they also need practical help from the business community. We’ve already committed to donating vans and driver time to transport furniture and other goods to families in need. I’d like to think that by getting people together, we can come up with some really innovative ways of helping.”

Pete Davenport, of SG Fleet UK commented, “Together with DPD, we’re going to get some of our local business friends along and we’d love to meet other organisations and individuals who feel they might have something to offer. It starts by giving an hour of your time so that we can show you the great work the Alice team does and talk about how you can support them.”

Steph Talbot, CEO at Alice commented, “At Alice, we believe that family is everything and that’s why we work so hard to support vulnerable children and families through difficult moments. We are funded purely from donations and fundraising so the support from DPD is a real game changer, enabling us to help even more disadvantaged and vulnerable families across the communities of Stoke and Newcastle. We are really looking forward to the events in September where we can showcase what we do and explain how other organisations can get involved.”

In addition to DPD Pickup in Stoke, the company also operates a £12m, 60,000 sq ft distribution centre on Shelton Boulevard, Etruria.