Douglas Stafford team help make Christmas special for under-privileged people
By Jamie White – Head of Communications
Team members at mystery shopping company Douglas Stafford brought some festive cheer to under-privileged children and adults at the company’s head office in Portsmouth on Sunday.
A charity Christmas lunch took place in the Real Cooking Cafe at 1000 Lakeside, Lakeside North Harbour, Portsmouth for three local charities.
Those invited to the special lunch included families, children and young adults currently being supported by the You Trust, Two Saints, The Roberts Centre and the Paulsgrove Foodbank.
The event was organised by members of the Lakeside CSR Group and businesses at Lakeside North Harbour. Volunteers from businesses based at 1000 Lakeside made sure the venue was ready and the food was prepared to serve to around 200 people who attended.
Douglas Stafford Operations Manager, Paul Brown, gave up his weekend to prepare and cook all the food.
Paul, a former chef at The Grand Hotel, Brighton, said: “It was a really amazing day. To see so many people tucking into their Christmas dinner with a smile on their faces was very special. We put in a lot of hard work and I am glad it all paid off. I must say a big thank you to all the members of the Douglas Stafford team who helped over the weekend.”
The event even attracted media attention, with Paul interviewed on BBC Radio Solent. BBC South Today also attended and filmed throughout the event, speaking to guests and some representatives of the charities. Douglas Stafford Head of Communications, Jamie White, was also interviewed and asked for his thoughts on the day. The footage from the lunch was used on BBC South Today on their breakfast bulletins and the evening show.
Lakeside North Harbour Marketing and Client Liaison Manager, Karen Tyrrell, played a huge part in organising the lunch and ensuring things ran smoothly.
“It was a huge success. I have had emails from all the charities thanking the CSR group for its efforts and commenting on how much fun everybody had on the day. All of the volunteers, from from 1000 Lakeside, had a wonderful fun-packed, but tiring day, and all agreed that it felt fabulous giving back to the local community. Thank you to everyone who helped make the day so successful,” said Karen.
The Lakeside CSR group includes 100 Lakeside companies – Coffin Mew, EBP, Lakeside North Harbour, Douglas Stafford, Infinity Design, Giant Leap Video Production, Eco-Drift, The Southern Co-operative, Bouygues and Changes Clinic.
Douglas Stafford provides a bespoke range of mystery shopping and customer experience programmes including Telephone Mystery Shopping, Email Mystery Shopping, Report-Based Mystery Shopping and Video Mystery Shopping, across the UK.
Follow mystery shopping and performance improvement company, Douglas Stafford:
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