“Our Community Matters”
October 2019

Berkshire local Business Charity Awards 2019

Friday 18th October 2019

The Swift Group were proud to be finalists and a winner in the Berkshire local Business Charity Awards 2019. The ceremony was held at local charity SportsAble, in Maidenhead, and was hosted by BBC Radio Berkshire’s Kirsten O’Brien.

All food served on the night had been ‘grown, sown, harvested and reared’ in the county, in line with the awards’ ethos of using only local produce.

To enter, local Berkshire charities nominated a Berkshire business or individual who had done an outstanding job supporting them. Swift Group and Adrian were honoured to have been nominated by the fabulous team at Newbury Soup Kitchen.

There were three awards: the Jelf Award, the A-Plan Insurance Award and the Individual Award.

The finalists in the Jelf Award were:

• Convatec (nominated by Berkshire Youth)
• Gardner Leader (nominated by Swings & Smiles)
• Nationwide Building Society (nominated by The Dash Charity)
• Penguins Events (nominated by Alexander Devine Children’s Hospice Services)

The winner of the Jelf award was:

Penguins Events.

The finalists for the A-Plan Insurance award were:

• A Twist of Lime (nominated by Baby Bank)
• Bisham Abbey Sailing & Navigation School (nominated by Rivertime Boat Trust)
• The Swift Group (nominated by Newbury Soup Kitchen)
• TSB (Reading Branch) (nominated by Babies in Buscot Support (BIBS))

The winner of the A-Plan Insurance award was:

TSB (Reading Branch).

The finalists for the Individual award were:

• Adrian Smith from The Swift Group (nominated by Newbury Soup Kitchen)
• Carol Irwin from Sainsburys (nominated by PALS (West Berkshire))
• Ken Navin from Innovate Services (nominated by Alexander Devine Children’s Hospice Services)
• Lisa Chaffey from Action Coach Reading (nominated by Berkshire Vision)

The winner of the A-Plan Insurance award was:

Adrian Smith from The Swift Group.

Jeffrey Branch, Vice Lord-Lieutenant of Berkshire, who presented the Individual award said:

"Two years ago Meryll Praill set up Newbury Soup Kitchen without any knowledge or experience of homelessness or the myriad of problems that leads to a person losing their home. The day she met Adrian Swift, Managing Director of the Swift Group was highly fortuitous; from the outset he has offered her guidance, support, introductions to relevant businesses and even the donation of a van to deliver the food to the homeless. With the full and enthusiastic support of everyone at The Swift Group, Adrian has been a guiding light to Meryl offering outstanding support over the past two years. Berkshire is a better place because of men like Adrian and we are delighted to announce him as the winner of the Individual Award tonight. He will be receiving a weekend away worth £300 which the judges consider is fully deserve."

“Our Community Matters”