Hundreds of science company employees turned their office canteen into a sea of Christmas jumpers as they held one of their final fundraisers wrapping up more than £15,000 in fundraising for St John Ambulance.
Staff at science company Lubrizol’s UK Technical Centre in Hazelwood, near Duffield, put on their best Christmas jumpers, antlers, Grinch outfits and sparkly headgear as a fundraiser for their current chosen charity.
Lubrizol has supported St John Ambulance for the past two years across all its UK sites: Derbyshire, Huddersfield, Blackley in Manchester and Barnsley.
Employees have thrown themselves behind a range of charity fundraisers culminating in dressing up in their festive jumper best for a Christmas meal on-site, donating to St John Ambulance as they did so.
Over two years Lubrizol employees have been raising money for the life-saving charity and will be handing it over when the final donations arrive in early 2025.
Lubrizol staff have undertaken a wide range of charity efforts to raise money for St John Ambulance over the past two years, including employee couple Claire and Tim Hollingshurst who braved blisters and tiredness to walk the whole of the 55-mile Derbyshire Heritage Way within a 24-hour timeframe. The couple and supporters raised nearly £2,000 with their efforts.
Over the past two years teams from St John Ambulance have also visited Lubrizol’s offices across the UK to deliver life-saving first aid sessions.
Across the UK, more than 30,000 cardiac arrests take place outside of a hospital setting annually. But less than one in ten people survive, often because those around them lack the skills or confidence to perform CPR, or access to a defibrillator.
When someone is in cardiac arrest their heart has stopped beating, and every minute without CPR or defibrillation reduces the chances of survival by up to 10 per cent, while early CPR and defibrillation can more than double survival rates.
Claire, who sits on Lubrizol’s charities and communities committee which co-ordinates the company’s charity fundraising each year, said: “Every year we hold our Christmas jumper day at Lubrizol and it’s nice to raise some money for our charity at the same time.
“Some people wear the same Christmas jumper each year but others like to mix it up and surprise us all with something new! One of our senior members of staff likes to wear the same turkey hat each year and it’s a mark of the festive season when we see him wearing it as he walks into the room.
“We’re very proud at Lubrizol to be able to support a new charity every two years and it’s been brilliant to raise money for St John Ambulance in 2023 and 2024. It’s a great organisation that’s saving lives. We’ll be finalising our total in 2025 ready to announce our next chosen charity.”
