On Wednesday 11 August, local residents and shoppers in Hillingdon were invited to drop by the Lower Mall of The Chimes Shopping Centre to hear all about the invaluable work Victim Support carries out in the area, and then meet with both staff and volunteers who work with and for this fantastic charity.
Dignitaries in the Uxbridge area who actively support the charity include the Mayor (Cllr David Yarrow, who spoke at the event), the Mayoress (Mrs Rita Kilroy of Hillingdon) and Ed Shaylor, the head of community safety at Hillingdon Council.
On the day, visitors to the High Street location were able to take part in a competition to win prizes (including an original piece of artwork created by the hugely talented Mo Lea, who spoke at the event).
Also ‘up for grabs’ were cinema tickets, various hair products and vouchers donated by the local Odeon cinema and retailers (among them Greggs and New Look). All the while, visitors were entertained by stilt walkers.
Importantly, there was an opportunity for each and every visitor to learn much about Victim Support’s outreach programme at the all-new Well-Being Centre launched earlier this month.
At the very heart of Uxbridge
The event – which ran from 9.00 am through to 6.00 pm – really was a perfect example of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in action, with the Capital Shopping Centres Group plc – owner of The Chimes Shopping Centre – funding Victim Support to hold not one but two of these educational days in the area designed to raise awareness of the charity’s many and varied services.
The Capital Shopping Centres Group plc is one of the UK’s largest property companies, a real estate investment trust (REIT) and a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index of the UK’s foremost listed companies.
In the retail arena, it focuses on ‘prime assets’ including Lakeside (Thurrock), the MetroCentre in Gateshead, the Braehead Shopping Centre at Renfrew (Glasgow), The Chimes, Watford and the famous Manchester Arndale.
In total, it looks after 13 UK shopping centres (including nine of the Top 30) and boasts a UK asset value (as at 31 December 2009) of GB pound 4.5 billion. The company administers a colossal 13.8 million square feet of UK retail space, and presides over 2,000 retail units.
For all you fans of statistics, half of the UK’s population lives within a 45-minute drive of a Capital Shopping Centres owned-and-operated retail mall.
Speaking about the Hillingdon awareness day for Victim Support, Tony Dunn (general manager of The Chimes) commented: “We think of The Chimes as being at the heart of Uxbridge and its community, so we’re delighted to support such a worthwhile charity as Victim Support and make it more accessible to local people.”
A premier retail venue, The Chimes is open on Monday to Wednesday from 9.00 am to 6pm, on Thursdays between 9.00 am and 8.00 pm, on Fridays and Saturdays from 9.00 am through until 7.00 pm and then again between 11.00 am and 5.00 pm on Sundays.
There are over 75 stores in situ – including Debenhams, Top Shop, Next and H&M – in addition to many special ‘one-off’ outlets.
Commercial sector and charity in partnership
As an example of the commercial sector working in collaboration with the charity sector, last week’s awareness day couldn’t have provided a better blueprint than it did. On the day, Victim Support raised a healthy GB pound 350 in donations from members of the public, which can’t be bad.
Natalie Ker Watson, area manager for Victim Support in North West London, was keen to comment.
“Last year, we received 9,342 referrals in Hillingdon,” Watson told SMT Online. “We want to continue to raise awareness of the free and confidential services Victim Support offers so that the community in Hillingdon realises it can access our new outreach service without having to go to the police.”
Jeff Gardner, regional manager for Victim Support in London, added: “Volunteers are the bedrock of Victim Support’s services to victims of crime. In the London region alone we have 1,000 volunteers, but we’re fully aware we need to recruit an additional 500 volunteers to meet what’s now an ever-increasing demand for our services. That’s why we’re so keen to encourage volunteers from local communities to become involved with the charity.”
As stated, Mo Lea attended the Hillingdon event. For those of you who are unaware, Mo is a surviving victim of Peter Sutcliffe, otherwise known as The Yorkshire Ripper.
To her ever-lasting credit (and due in no small part to a strength of character many people could only dream of attaining), Mo has turned her life around since the awful events that beset her 30 years ago and is now a recognised artist.
Addressing the audience at The Chimes Shopping Centre, Lea said: “I found the strength to stand up and say: ‘I’m a surviving victim of Peter Sutcliffe, The Yorkshire Ripper’… It’s now my intention to raise at least as much money for Victim Support as it has cost us all to keep him in his comfortable prison cell all these years. That’s well over one million pounds.”
Some of Mo’s splendid artwork was on sale on the day, with all of the proceeds going to Victim Support. At least GB pound 200 was raised.
Crime in the local community
SMT Online’s prime contact at Victim Support is Claudine Piggott, the organisation’s London-based fundraising and relationships manager who’s facilitating the organisation’s involvement with UBM Live in respect of its nominated charity status for the 2010 Security Excellence Awards.
Piggott attended The Chimes Shopping Centre event, and wanted to relate a story or two from the day.
“When I was walking around The Chimes I spoke to several retailers,” explained Piggott. “At least four of them told me about crimes that had affected them. One had his mobile phone stolen only a week ago, while another has had her home burgled. Another was mugged. All highlight the continuing topicality and instance of crime in our local communities.”
You’ll no doubt be comforted to know that the mugging victim is now receiving assistance from Victim Support’s Witness Service.
“It’s also well worth mentioning the issues faced by security officers in shopping centres,” urged Piggott. “Aside from having to deal with petty criminality on a daily basis, they might also witness a major incident. As a result, they may suffer from trauma or have to deal with others suffering from that trauma. They might have to go to court, too. There’s no doubt they could benefit from our specialist training and employee development programmes.”
Mobile phone and BlackBerry handset recycling
The Chimes event was also notable for the fact that Victim Support ran a mobile phone and BlackBerry handset recycling initiative. The idea is that members of the public hand over their old, unwanted handsets which are then ‘data-wiped’ and recycled. The money from the recycling is then used by the charity to help victims of crime.
Claudine Piggott explained: “We hope that more and more people will hand in their unwanted mobiles. Old mobile phones and BlackBerry handsets will go a long way towards making sure our volunteers are equipped with the necessary skills to help people in the aftermath of crime in London. At the same time, of course, recycling protects the environment. It all makes perfectly good business sense.” Indeed it does.
It’s estimated that a staggering 90 million mobile phones are hiding in peoples’ drawers and cupboards right across the UK. That equates to 11,250 tonnes in weight – almost six times as much as the weight of the London Eye!
In addition, it’s suspected that less than 20% of all unused mobile phones in the UK are currently recycled. Remember, too, that mobile phones discarded at landfill sites can leak toxins such as cadmium, lithium and mercury, which isn’t too helpful when it comes to environmental sustainability.
On top of that, every hour something like 1,712 mobile phones are replaced in the UK. Undoubtedly, these are sobering statistics one and all.
Support from The City of London Police
Commendably, The City of London Police has already given Victim Support a substantial number of old phones.
Steve Jackson, a detective inspector with the force, told SMT Online: “The City of London Police was delighted to provide Victim Support with 148 old handsets. The phones had been boxed up and were just gathering dust, so it made environmental, social and business sense to put them to good use for a charity which minimises the trauma of crime for both victims and witnesses. The collection was easy to organise. In fact, we now plan to donate more handsets on an ongoing basis.”
On a wider scale, Victim Support is currently working on a recycling partnership with The Mayday Network, convened by Business in the Community.
The Mayday Network is a collaboration of businesses at all stages on the low carbon journey: some leading, some just starting out. Founded by HRH The Prince of Wales in 2007, it aims to “inspire, engage, support and challenge” as many businesses as possible to work together – and in the closest collaboration – towards a sustainable future.
The Mayday Network is constantly trying to find ways in which to inspire its member companies to implement sustainable business practices. Put simply, businesses are urged to recycle, reuse and renew products as much as possible.
Not surprisingly, perhaps, The Mayday Network was thrilled that it could encourage companies and their employees to recycle mobile phones and BlackBerry handsets by giving old and discarded models to Victim Support.
Lauren Sandler, marketing manager for The Mayday Network, commented: “We’re not only reducing our Mayday companies’ waste that goes to landfill, but also supporting an extremely worthwhile cause at the same time.”
Further information on the work of Victim Support
Victim Support is the national charity for people affected by crime. The organisation assists upwards of 1.5 million victims of crime every year, at the same time lending a helping hand to 250,000 witnesses in court.
Staff and volunteers are trained to provide free and confidential emotional support, practical help, advice and information to anyone affected by crime, whether or not the crime has been reported and regardless of when the act(s) of criminality actually took place.
In London alone, Victim Support trains over 750 volunteers every year who are then deployed to support the victims and witnesses of crime in their local communities, and in every criminal court across the capital.
It costs around GB pound 70 to train one volunteer for a day, and GB pound 1,120 per day for a group of 16 volunteers. That’s why all donations – individual or corporate – are gratefully received.
The national charity also runs the Witness Service and a national Helpline, the Victim Supportline (telephone number 0845 30 30 900).
If you would like further information on Victim Support, or you wish to make a donation, feel free to access the charity’s official website (a dedicated link is provided on the right hand panel of this page)
Additional information on The Chimes Shopping Centre is also available online (again, access the dedicated link on the right hand panel of this page)
