Variety Yorkshire boss hails generosity of region's business community in 2020

The head of Variety, the Children’s Charity has paid tribute to Yorkshire’s business community for its support during 2020.
The Variety - organised Yorkshire Business Awards earns the charity significant funds each year.The Variety - organised Yorkshire Business Awards earns the charity significant funds each year.
The Variety - organised Yorkshire Business Awards earns the charity significant funds each year.

Variety traditionally earned a huge amount of its income from staging events with the region’s business community, most notably the Yorkshire Property Awards in Spring and the Yorkshire Business Awards, staged in December.

These events generated hundreds of thousands of pounds for the charity to support the work that it does with some of the most disadvantaged children in Yorkshire.

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But, when Covid struck every event Variety had planned for 2020 was cancelled, leaving the charity in a situation in which all of its income vanished.

However, thanks to the generosity of some of Yorkshire’s leading firms, the charity has still been able to fund the majority of its grant applications that it has received this year.

Charlotte Farrington, Yorkshire’s regional development director for Variety, told The Yorkshire Post: “At Variety, 2020 has seen almost all sources of income dry up overnight as we have had to cancel all of our fundraising events.

“This has had a catastrophic impact on the many sick, disabled and disadvantaged children we work to support and has forced us to think on our feet and adapt the way in which we operate in order to survive the crisis and continue our vital operations across Yorkshire.

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“The support we continue to receive from the commercial and residential property and business sectors has been overwhelming and incredibly humbling.

“It is safe to say that we would be in a very different position today, without their donations and as a result, we’re fortunate to have been able to fund almost all individual grant applications received so far this year.

“However, it does not stop there. We continue to be faced with an ever-growing list of children in desperate need of our help.

“I am acutely aware that Variety are not an exception.

“Everyone will have had an incredibly challenging year as we have all had to navigate through the unknown but if the past nine months have taught me anything, it is that where there is a will, there is a way and in true Yorkshire fashion, wherever possible, people want to help.”

A donation of any size can be made via the Variety website https://www.variety.org.uk/.Alternatively, you can contact [email protected] or call the Yorkshire office on 01132 459937.

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