Yorkshire company puts its money where its Mind is

EMIS Group has partnered with national mental health charity Mind, to raise money to help ensure that no one has to face a mental health condition alone.

Staff from six of EMIS Group’s UK offices have taken on the Charity Shop Challenge, to manage Mind shops for a day. It gives them the chance to learn more about the charity, while sharing their business skills with Mind retail colleagues and competing to generate the highest percentage increase in daily profits.

Naomi Priest, who joined EMIS Group’s graduate scheme in March, led one of the challenge days at the shop in St Michael’s Road, Leeds. She said: “I had no idea that one in four people will experience a mental health problem each year – so supporting Mind to raise awareness is something I’m passionate about and that’s why I got involved in this challenge.

“It gave me the opportunity to work with colleagues from across EMIS Group who I’ve not met before but more importantly, it was great to find out about the work of the charity and raise as much money for them as we could.”

The teams have been collecting donations of good quality stock and working with the shop managers to create marketing plans for the shops. On the challenge day, each team is responsible for promoting the stock, making its window displays look enticing and raising even more money with other activities such as tombolas and bake sales.

EMIS Group’s Chief Medical Officer Dr Shaun O’Hanlon said: “This year, we launched our Caring EMIS programme. It is the first time we have partnered with a charity: the programme looks to raise money and awareness, as well as allowing all employees paid time off work to support a charitable or community initiative.

EMIS Group Charity Shop Challenges are taking place at Mind shops in Sheffield, Leeds, Chiswick, Stockport and Kidderminster.