Bell Pottinger North chooses ShelterBox as 20th birthday charity partner

20.06.2011

The PR company, which employs a team of 56 across offices in Macclesfield, Leeds, Liverpool and Singapore was founded as Insight Marketing by MD, Chris Warham in 1991 and became part of the Bell Pottinger Group in March 2000.

ShelterBox delivers its iconic green boxes globally to families made homeless by natural or manmade disasters.  Each box supplies an extended family of ten with a tent and essential equipment to use whilst they are homeless.  The charity - winner of the Justgiving Charity of the Year award 2011 - provided shelter for 500,000 people in 2010.  More than 30% of all housed in temporary accommodation in Haiti in 2010 were in ShelterBox tents.

Our fundraising page is http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/bellpottinger

Bell Pottinger North MD, Chris Warham, said

"ShelterBox is an amazingly effective organisation.  It just gets the job done.  The more I looked at it the more similarities I found with our values and the way we work.  I wanted a way for Bell Pottinger to make a real contribution to society during 2011 and a partnership with ShelterBox seemed ideal.

"During 2011 we are aiming to raise £10,000, enough to fund 20 boxes, that's one for each year of the company's life." he continued.

Bell Pottinger's team are already planning a range of fundraising activities during the year.  "So far I know of two skydivers, long-distance cycling, a tuck box, several new runners and a planned "kidnapping".  We have an amazing and talented team and it's a privilege to see how they have captured this idea.  There will also be some client events and will be asking our parent company, suppliers, partners and clients to support us."  Chris said. 

The company is also offering some pro-bono public relations support to ShelterBox to include regular PR campaigns and international press office support in the event of a major disaster occurring. Tim Bunting, Head of UK Fundraising at ShelterBox, said: "We're thrilled Bell Pottinger North have chosen to support us, and look forward to a fantastic year of fundraising with them."

**ends**  

Press contacts

Chris Warham  - Bell Pottinger +44 (0)1625 506401 cwarham@bellpottingernorth.co.uk

Katy Creates - ShelterBox  +44(0)1326 569782 pr@shelterbox.org

Notes to editors

Bell Pottinger North is part of the Bell Pottinger Group - voted number one in PR Week's league tables for the last seven years. With offices in Cheshire, Liverpool and Leeds, its specialisms include, consumer, property, planning, construction, professional services, healthcare, technology, aerospace and aviation and customer advocacy. 

High res image available at /images/HPIM0504.JPG

ShelterBox provides emergency shelter and lifesaving supplies for families around the world who are affected by disasters at the time when they need it the most. Its goal is to help 50,000 families who lose everything in a disaster every year.

The ShelterBox solution in disaster response is as simple as it is effectiveThe charity delivers the essentials a family needs to survive in the immediate aftermath of a disaster Each large, green ShelterBox is tailored to a disaster but typically contains a disaster relief tent for an extended family, blankets, water storage and purification equipment, cooking utensils, a stove, a basic tool kit, a children's activity pack and other vital items.

High-res images are available at http://www.flickr.com/photos/shelterboxuk/