Wickes’ has raised more than £2 million for charity YoungMinds thanks to the generosity of customers, colleagues and suppliers. Along with digital support for young people, the charity also runs a helpline that parents can call, email or web chat for advice and emotional support about a young person in their care, as well as training and services for adults working with young people.
The £2 million will help to enable the Parents Helpline to answer another 40,000 calls on their helpline.
Wickes CEO David Wood said “When choosing a charity partner we have the opportunity to really use our scale for good. With 230 stores and 8500+ colleagues nationwide we knew we could make a genuine difference in helping YoungMinds and enable them to help more young people. I’m incredibly grateful to all of our colleagues, customers and suppliers in helping us smash our goal to raise £2 million.”
Gary Kibble, Chief Marketing & Digital Officer at home retailer Wickes said “We'd like to say a huge thank you to our colleagues, suppliers and all of our customers in the local community for their support. Events have taken place at our stores and support centres up and down the country. These include asking for 50p at checkout, online donations, plus bake sales and countless physical challenges including paddling the Thames and hiking the 3 peaks in Yorkshire.”
Emma Thomas, Chief Executive of YoungMinds, said: “During the pandemic, the number of children and young people experiencing a mental health problem rose by half, and since then we have continued to see record figures for those seeking help. This is why our work has never been more important – from our parents’ helpline to our online support for young people to our political campaigning.”
“At YoungMinds we are working towards a world where no young person feels alone with their mental health, and Wickes have helped us to make that a reality for even more young people. This fundraising milestone is a huge achievement and we are hugely grateful to every customer, Wickes staff member and supplier who has contributed to it.”
