The Prince's East of England Seeing is Believing programme

Cambridge businesses experienced first hand the difference ‘business in the community’ can make when they visited three locations in the city, in an half-day event organised by Cambridgeshire ProHelp.

Cambridgeshire ProHelp is a network of business professionals who help community projects, charities, and other local not-for-profit good causes, that need specific advice and expertise. Supported by Cambridge University Press, Cambridgeshire ProHelp is part of the national organisation Business in the Community and currently has 11 Cambridge firms as members.

The ‘Seeing is Believing’ event on Wednesday, 13 July will saw Cambridgeshire ProHelp Manager Nigel Atkinson take employers to three different locations to visit and hear talks from Wintercomfort, The Richmond Fellowship and Romsey Mill. There will also be a talk by the CEO of the Cambridge Women’s Resource Centre.

The event represents different communities across Cambridge and will allow businesses to witness first-hand their importance to the area.  WinterComfort supports people who are homeless or at risk of losing their homes, by offering them basic amenities and opportunities for educational development; The Richmond Fellowship provide mental health care through supported housing, employment services and care homes; Romsey Mill works to overcome disadvantage and promotes social inclusion with young people, children and families and is Cambridge University Press’s nominated charity this year. The Cambridge Women’s Resource Centre provides women with training, support and guidance in a women only environment.

Businesses visiting included Cambridge University Press, Thomson Webb and Corfield, Taylor Vinters, Medimmune Ltd, GlaxoSmithKline, as well as representatives from the University of Cambridge and Anglia Ruskin University. 

Following the visits the businesses will convene at Romsey Mill on Mill Road to discuss how businesses, working with the charities, can do more to help Cambridge be a vibrant place to do business as well as study.

Nigel Atkinson, Manager of Cambridgeshire ProHelp, said: “The intention is to connect business and the community in the Cambridgeshire area to make a difference by working together. Cambridge has a strong sense of community and we want to build on that and help projects get off the ground and prosper, using expertise the business world has to offer.”

‘Seeing is believing’ events are run nationally and business delegates are asked to report back on action to the BITC’s president HRH The Prince of Wales on the actions they will be taking.

Tim Bick, Executive Councillor for Community Development and Health said: ‘I am really proud that the City Council is supporting this important visit. It brings into focus for local businesses the key social role that voluntary organisations play in the fabric of the community that they, their employees and many of their customers are a part of. This project is one example of our strategy to help voluntary organisations broaden their sources of support’.