LEWIS BALLARD: HOW FAR WOULD YOU GO TO GIVE?
The purpose-driven business series features a different Business for Good every Thursday to showcase their unique giving stories. We hope these stories inspire you with interesting, new and joyful ideas on how to integrate giving into your business.
This week we feature a great team willing to go great lengths to support the causes they believe in (including wearing pants on their heads, cycling 330miles, running 10km as a team, and more!)
INTRODUCING…LEWIS BALLARD!
WHO: Janet Ballard from Lewis Ballard Limited
WHERE: Cardiff, United Kingdom
WHAT: We are a firm of Accountants and Advisers with a holistic approach to making a difference. We add value to businesses and balance to lives
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CAN YOU GIVE US A SENSE OF WHY YOU DECIDED TO START GIVING?
As a team, we have always supported various charities on an ad-hoc basis and have held an annual charity dinner for our local Cancer Care hospital which has raised almost £100,000 to date. However, when we heard about B1G1 we knew this was the way to make giving a daily habit in our business, one that involved all our team and clients. It also gave us the opportunity to contribute to causes across the world and help in our small way, to make it a better place.
WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE PROJECT(S) TO GIVE TO AND WHY?
Since we joined in 2012 we have supported over 21 different projects and we link each service we provide to a different charity for 12 months. After a year our team then choose new projects. We always choose charities from different countries and different age groups so we can really help communities across the world, however, our list somehow always includes Giving Goats to Families in Kenya! So this is definitely our favorite.
HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE THE IMPACT B1G1 HAS HAD ON YOUR COMPANY AND ITS CULTURE?
We have a great team already, but it’s given us a common purpose and helped to bring us together as a team. We know that by striving to do our best at our jobs, we can not only improve the lives of our clients, but we can also really make a difference in the lives of many people around the world.
WHAT’S THE BEST EXPERIENCE YOU’VE HAD THROUGH YOUR GIVING ACTIVITIES AND BEING A PART OF B1G1?
Paul Dunn came to speak at a presentation for us and he really wowed us. His passion and energy are unbelievable and you can’t help being inspired by that too. He also gave truly valuable insights into how to build your business which was wonderful for us and our team and also gladly received by our clients. He then spent the afternoon with our team, which was truly a wonderful experience.
DOES ANYBODY IN YOUR TEAM HAVE AN INTERESTING GIVING STORY TO TELL?
As a business, we do a lot of fundraising and charity work for various local charities. The team suggests the ones they want to support and we do what we can. Neil and I cycled 330 miles from Boston to New York in 2014, and Neil is cycling the Rockies in September (2016) with our son Chris for the Hospital too.
If you have an interesting Giving Story to share, write to us at hello@b1g1.com to be included in the next feature!