Pictured: Saroj Parekh and Cari Oswin from Travel Management
Group (TMG)
A Midlands travel firm has developed a taste for charity work
after its lunchtime tuck shop went down a treat.
Staff in the accounts division at Travel Management Group, which
has its headquarters in Leamington Spa, began selling tasty snacks
to fellow employees in February last year due to a lack of
lunchtime deliveries.
The tuck shop has since raised over £800 for Medecins Sans
Frontieres, UK blood cancer charity Anthony Nolan and Myton Hospice
- but they are still craving more.
Saroj Parekh, finance controller at TMG, was part of the team
that came up with idea and has since maintained the tuck shop while
also satisfying their hunger to help other causes too.
Saroj said: "We had the idea to set up the tuck shop and donate
all the profits to charity after the people that used to deliver to
us at lunchtime stopped coming.
"We started off with an initial £50 donation to get us
started and it has just gone from there.
"In our first year we raised £552 for our chosen charities
and so far this year we have raised over £250. We usually
make around £50 a month but that jumps up to about £80
in the winter months.
"We agreed between us on these three charities because they are
either local or personally significant to people but if there is a
certain cause that catches our attention in a certain month we
might do something a bit more special like bake cakes and send them
the money instead.
"We have also begun to take part in other charitable activities
since starting the tuck shop. We have had an international day,
high tea afternoon, car boot sale and tombola as part of Myton
Hospice's Take50Challenge, raising £555 as well as
contributing to Red Nose Day."