Harwich Haven Authority employees select their 2025 Charity of the Year
07 April 2025
Community-minded employees from Harwich Haven Authority (HHA) have chosen Home-Start Harwich as their Charity of the Year.
The charity, based in the Bathside area of Harwich, provides families with young children with practical and non-judgmental support when they need it most.
“We are proud that our employees continue to step up to support local charities,” says Melissa Wellings, ESG Director, Harwich Haven Authority.
“As a business we actively encourage, and support, everyone working here to give back to the community. We have also introduced a new volunteering policy that entitles employees to claim an additional day’s annual leave each year to volunteer with a charitable initiative that’s close to their heart.
“With no shareholders, and aligned to our trust port designation, we continue to reinvest our profits back into the Haven for the benefit of all stakeholders.”
Wendy Taylor, Manager, Home-Start Harwich reacted:” I’m overwhelmed by the continued generosity of the everyone working at HHA. They are valued supporters of Home-Start and for the past three years HHA has generously funded our Bobbit’s Hole Forest School initiative.
“We are certainly seeing a higher demand for our services in the Harwich area as more and more families struggle to navigate increasing challenges. The additional demand also impacts on our funding so any extra money we receive relieves some of the pressure we are under to do more.
“Since the beginning of the year the team at HHA has already managed to raise over £1,300 by taking part in a charity football tournament and holding a cake sale, which is amazing! They have lots more fundraising initiatives planned over the course of this year and we’ll also be doing what we can to support their endeavours.”
The Charity of the Year initiative is now in its third year and in 2024 more than £5,000 was raised by HHA employees for the North Essex Support Trust (NEST), which is led by local Harwich resident, Les Nicoll.
Les Nicoll commented: “The donation we received from HHA last year meant that we could purchase 170 single beds, bedding and teddies for children who were either sleeping on floors or sharing a bed with their parents. Everyone at HHA should feel very proud that they made this happen.”
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For further information contact: Fiona Brunning, Corporate Affairs Manager. Email: [email protected] or call: 07425 632090
Picture caption: (left to right). Bonnie Caleno, Environment Officer – Harwich Haven Authority, Wendy Taylor, Manage – Home-Start Harwich, Home-Start Harwich Support Worker, Linzi Jobber – Sustainability Manager, Harwich Haven Authority
Notes to editors
About Harwich Haven Authority
Harwich Haven Authority is a major UK trust port, with a jurisdiction that covers 150 square miles. With five port operators, including the Port of Felixstowe, in the Haven it’s one of the Europe’s busiest trade gateways with more than 40% of containerised goods arriving in the UK via this route. The Authority ensures safety of navigation for all users of the Haven, from the world’s largest container vessels in operation to the 10,000 small leisure craft that visit the area each year.
As a not-for-profit organisation, with no shareholders, Harwich Haven Authority generate income through the services they provide. All profits reinvested back into the Haven for the benefit of stakeholders. Through its Environment, Social and Governance Strategy the Authority measures their impact, against defined TOMs (themes of measurement), using the Social Value Portal. In 2023 they delivered more than £4.2 million of social value, which included £85.6K for creating green spaces, improving biodiversity, and helping ecosystems.