The official conference and events bureau for Cambridge recently held a symposium to mark its 25th anniversary – and asked the 100 delegates attending to bring a donation for the city’s foodbank.
Meet Cambridge hosted ‘Events: Matters Arising’ at King’s College which explored the current challenges and opportunities facing the meetings sector, including a panel of high-profile industry players debating ways to make events more sustainable.
Invitees were asked to make a donation to highlight the importance of corporate social responsibility at business events, resulting in hundreds of items being given which were later taken to the Cambridge City Foodbank’s Cowley Road warehouse.
Judith Sloane, Head of Meet Cambridge said: “We were overwhelmed by the generosity of the delegates at our anniversary event, ensuring we had a substantial amount to take to the Foodbank.
“This was just part of our focus on demonstrating the importance of making business events more sustainable and we will certainly do all we can to encourage other event organisers to add a collection to their conferences and meetings going forwards.”
James Dore, Lead Warehouse Volunteer, added: “We are so grateful for the generous donation from the team at Meet Cambridge. Cambridge City Foodbank is currently experiencing unprecedented levels of demand for emergency food parcels and without the generosity from companies, we would be unable to continue to provide support for those in crisis. Thank you to everyone who donated.”
Over the past 12 months, the Cambridge City Foodbank has supported 42% more people than in the same period in 2021/22. This equates to around 14,500 people in a 12-month period.