Document Network Services donate regularly to various charities but, for some time, we had been looking for a cause to work with consistently as our Chosen Charity.
During a chance meeting, our Managing Director Darren Marsh heard the story of local charity Me&Dee – and that was it, our charity was chosen!
“As soon as I heard about Me&Dee, their cause and outlook really struck a chord. Not for any personal reason, but because the work they do is wonderful and it’s easy to see what a huge difference it makes to people at such a crucial time. They provide holidays to allow families affected by life-changing and limiting illnesses to temporarily escape and make special memories together during what could otherwise be their darkest days. On top of that, the small team behind the charity are such brilliant, genuine people and they’ve got great ambition with plans to support more and more families when they need it most; it’s a privilege to be able to help.”
Darren Marsh, Managing Director of Document Network Services Limited.
Document Network Services Managing Director, Darren Marsh, presents Me&Dee Founder & CEO, Maria Hanson, with a new lightweight laptop
Me&Dee has two caravans by the sea in Mablethorpe but their ambition for next year – called their ‘20/20 Vision’ – is to add another property to enable them to offer more holidays to families hit by terminal illness. As they explain:
“It’s those special moments shared with the ones we love, no matter how complicated circumstances may be, that are most precious of all”.
The third property will be more local – a forest lodge with a hot tub – providing much needed short breaks for families who desperately need time together but may also have to get to a hospital or hospice quickly. The plot is secured, the plans are drawn up, but Me&Dee needs to raise £150,000 to make this a reality. As an ambitious, forward-thinking company ourselves, we’re only too happy to help towards making this vision a reality:
“We love a challenge!” says Darren, “So we’re ready and willing to do our bit to help.”
While many businesses and individuals help Me&Dee by making welcome regular or one-off donations, Darren wanted to take a different approach.
“We could have set up a standing order, which I’m sure Me&Dee would have been very grateful of, but we want to do more than that. We want to connect on a more personal level with every member of our team being involved, knowing the charity, and understanding why we’re doing what we’re doing.”
To officially mark the start of our ‘Chosen Charity’ relationship, we presented Me&Dee’s founder & CEO, Maria Hanson, with a Microsoft Surface Pro. Maria works tirelessly for the charity, unwaged, but, as a result of illness, struggles to carry heavy laptops to meetings. Darren was happy to help out by donating the lightweight yet powerful Microsoft laptop as well as offering ongoing IT support, too.
“I’m absolutely delighted with their generous gesture!” said Maria.
“It really will make a big difference to the way I work day-to-day, and knowing I can call and have technical help on the end of the phone too is the icing on the cake! It’s going to make life so much easier.”
“We’ve got a lot planned with Me&Dee Charity going forward; we’re really excited to be involved.” says Darren. “As well as knowing that we’re supporting a wonderful cause, the whole team at DNS is going to get so much from the relationship. So far, we’ve gifted the laptop, sponsored and taken part in the Team Challenge at Thoresby Park, donated Nottingham Panthers tickets to Me&Dee’s raffle, signed up to a golf day – and that’s just the beginning! We’re hoping to come up with a big ‘challenge’ for our team to take part in next year. At the moment we’re considering a coast to coast walk but we’re open to ideas… so, if anyone would like to come up with a challenge for us, we’ll happily consider it! Just tweet us with the hashtag #ChallengeDNS or contact us with your ideas – and if any other companies out there would like to join us in a challenge too, you’d be very welcome!”
Want to know more about our Chosen Charity, Me&Dee? Visit their website.
