At Welsh Women’s Aid we love working alongside businesses who share our vision of a society which no longer tolerates violence against women and girls.
The brilliant businesses and sole traders that we partner with help us in a variety of ways. Whether it’s by donating profits from sales; arranging a corporate donation; encouraging employees to make donations via their payroll; choosing us as your Charity of the Year; promoting our campaigns; or sponsoring our research or events – there are many ways to help.
One business currently working with us, is TSB. Team members from Welsh TSB branches have been keen to support our work and have been doing so with gusto!
We sat down with Bethan Rogers, the Branch Manager of TSB in Cwmbran, to hear a little bit more about why they wanted to support Welsh Women’s Aid, what they have done so far, and how they have engaged with their customers and staff.
Hi Bethan, please tell us a little about yourself and what you do.
I’m Bethan Rogers and I’m the Branch Manager of TSB in Cwmbran. I’ve been with TSB for just over 11 years and have always been involved with our Charity and Community outreach since I started. I’m the Charity and Community Ambassador for our region and am also an Ask Me Ambassador for Welsh Women’s Aid. In my spare time I’m a busy Mum and Stepmum to 5 kids and am thrilled to be getting married later on this year to my lovely fiancé!
Why is fundraising for Welsh Women’s Aid important to you and your TSB colleagues?
Doing what matters has always been important to TSB, and I am particularity passionate about supporting charity and our local community. Working in a branch we see all sorts of customers, some of them vulnerable, and some of them who need the help of charities such as Welsh Women’s Aid. TSB was the first bank to offer Safe Spaces across our branch network for victims of domestic abuse, regardless of whether they bank with us or not. Our Emergency Flee Fund provides existing customers who are impacted by domestic abuse with a payment of £50 to £500 to help escape an abusive relationship. Supporting Welsh Women’s Aid locally in our branch is an extra step in supporting TSB’s Do What Matters plan.
What branches have been involved in fundraising so far?
TSB has a number of charities we’ve chosen to support that align with our core values, any branch of TSB or any back office function can choose to support Welsh Women’s Aid, but I think more specifically it’s been the Welsh branches that have made the largest contributions so far – so that’s Cwmbran, Newport, Cardiff, Swansea, Aberystwyth, Carmarthen and Maesteg. Together we’ve raised £2,379.27 so far!
Tell us about the activities/events you have held?
So far, we’ve held book sales, bake sales, Easter, Christmas and Valentines Day raffles and a colleague, Lydia, is planning on running the Cardiff Half Marathon in October! We’re hoping that’ll get the sponsorship rolling in and be a big earner! We also do a massive collection at Christmas to provide Christmas presents to children in the local community who have been affected by domestic abuse. Welsh Women’s Aid help us work with our local specialist service and then our fantastic customers and staff go shopping! It’s a popular event – people love to know they’re doing some good!
How have you enjoyed doing these activities?
We love a fundraiser in the Cwmbran Branch! Our customers love it when we’ve got a raffle or competition running, and they are always so supportive and generous which means our events go well!
How have you been engaging with customers?
Our customers always know when there’s something going on! We’ll have posters up in branch and we tend to shout about it to anyone who’ll listen. We also use JustGiving as a platform for larger fundraising events. Here is the link to Lydia’s Cardiff Half Marathon page if anyone would like to donate: https://www.justgiving.com/page/lydiaevans-welshwomensaid.
Has this been a good way to share information on Violence Against Women with your colleagues and customers?
Absolutely, our customers know that Welsh Women’s Aid is our supported charity in Cwmbran Branch, and they know why. Supporting victims of domestic abuse and violence against women is important to us; the work Welsh Women’s Aid do is crucial and raising awareness along with cash is vital.
You mentioned you’ve become an Ask Me Ambassador for Welsh Women’s Aid, can you share a little bit about that?
With TSB being a safe space, I felt it was important to have as much knowledge and understanding of how to respond to women who ask us for help in branch. Each branch manager across South Wales and North Bristol all joined the Welsh Women’s Aid free, 2-day Ask Me training and found it vastly useful and informative. The training has enhanced our knowledge of how to signpost survivors to support and what Welsh Women’s Aid do. This motivated us to organise fundraisers to encourage our local communities to talk about their experiences, in turn raising much needed funds and awareness about the charity.
What’s your advice for others who want to fundraise for Welsh Women’s Aid? Do you have any tips?
Have fun with your fundraising! And making it a team effort will really rally the troops and encourage people to donate.
And lastly, how have you found us as an organisation to support and work with?
You guys have always been so helpful and appreciative of our efforts so thank you for that. We love working with you and are looking forward to continuing to do so in the future.
– A “Welsh Cakes for Welsh Women’s Aid” event held at TSB.
A huge thank you again to Bethan, the whole team at TSB and their lovely customers for their support – it’s been wonderful working with them, and we can’t wait to see what’s next 💜
If you’re feeling inspired to fundraise in aid of Welsh Women’s Aid, please get in touch with our dedicated fundraising team and they’ll be happy to help – [email protected].