The season of goodwill is upon us, and at True Potential the spirit of charity and community is something we adhere to all year round. As part of our mission to do more, we are proud to reveal that more than £500,000 has been donated to charities across the UK by True Potential and charity partner the Harrison Foundation in 2022.

The total figure is an increase of 25%, representing an extra £100,000, on donations made in 2021.

Beneficiaries this year include charities supporting young and vulnerable people, schools, hospices, homelessness charities and care providers offering support services to sick children.

As another year draws to a close, we’d like to take the time to reflect on some highlights from 2022, in particular the work we have done with charities and in various communities across the country.

March

In March, we supported the Tree of Hope, a charity which helps families transform the lives of sick children.

Supporting Amelia achieve her goal of walking, the True Potential team raised £4,440. Our contributions went towards specialist equipment helping Amelia with her mobility for the rest of her life.

April

Looking back to April we continued our support for local causes. The True Potential team raised £5,754 for Durham Deafened Support, who offer valuable help and support to the auditory impaired and run Community Support Groups including Lip Reading, Tinnitus Support and Events.

September

We have been working with The Chronicles Sunshine Fund for several years and we were honoured again to be their sponsor for this year’s Great North Run.

Eighteen of our True Potential team members took part, and collectively raised £21,000 for babies, children and young adults who require specialist equipment unavailable through the NHS or local authorities.

November

One of our team members, Anna, is completing a range of challenges to raise money for Children’s Cancer North, an independent charity which has supported individuals and families affected by childhood cancer for 40 years. Anna’s fundraisers include the Kielder marathon, a 15,000ft sky dive and a bungee jump off Middlesbrough’s Transporter Bridge.

Our giving isn’t seasonal.

For our last charitable act of 2022, we are participating in Metro Radio’s Cash for Kids initiative which involves collecting presents for disadvantaged children across the North-East. If you’d like to follow our fund-raising journey for Cash for Kids or make a donation, please click here.

The Harrison Centre for Social Mobility

This year has also seen a large expansion of the highly successful Harrison Centre for Social Mobility initiative, with new Harrison Centres opening in Darlington, Newcastle and online with the Open University.

As well as the new centres, the partnership with the Foundation of Light in Sunderland, home of the first Harrison Centre, continues for a fifth year.

In addition to the £500,000 donated to charities in the UK is a multi-million pound commitment to build the first overseas Harrison Centre, due to open in the Caribbean in early 2023.

Harrison Foundation trustee and True Potential Chief Executive, Daniel Harrison, said: “2022 has been a very challenging year for a lot of people in many different respects, with rising energy costs and higher prices across the board putting real pressure on community charities to stay afloat and continue the vital work they do. That’s why I’m proud that this year especially we’ve gone even further and increased our overall donations by 25% to reach £500,000.

“In particular, I am delighted that we have expanded the Harrison Centre for Social Mobility model, opening new centres and ensuring that thousands more young people will have the opportunity to acquire the skills they need to find ways into employment.

“A highlight this year was seeing our founder, Sir David Harrison, receive a Knighthood that recognises his decades of work to increase social mobility through his businesses and the Harrison Foundation.

“I’m looking forward to working with Sir David as well as our long-standing and new partners in 2023.”

In 2022, we have raised and donated over £500,000.

Giving back to the community and making a positive difference to people’s lives are part of our core values. We look forward to 2023 with the view of supporting more incredible causes and making a difference across the UK.

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