Blenheim steps in to support local community

Published by

Nicky Godding

A total of 15,000 chocolate Easter bunnies, originally intended for visitors to Blenheim Palace over the Easter holidays, have been donated to local foodbanks and the South Oxfordshire Food & Education Academy (SOFEA), who will be distributing them in food boxes throughout the Thames Valley region.

Over 1,700 bottles of Blenheim Palace mineral water have been sent to NHS staff working in the intensive care units across Oxford University Hospitals.

It has also provided free office space at its Witney Business & Innovation Centre to a local couple; one working with vulnerable children and the other providing IT support for the NHS. Both were unable to get to their places of work due to travel restrictions.

One of its electric vans, usually used for deliveries around the estate, has been loaned to the Hanborough Covid-19 Mutual Aid Group to help deliver food and provisions to people who are self-isolating.

Blenheim is also supporting The Help Hub, a local online clinic created to offer practical advice and guidance for anyone feeling isolated and lonely as a result of the coronavirus by connecting them wih nearby trained therapists and counsellors.

“We are in a position where we are able to provide at least some help and assistance to local people carrying out really important work,” said our CEO, Dominic Hare.

“These are extraordinarily testing times for absolutely everybody and it’s an opportunity for all of us to step up, work together and support each other.

“Blenheim, like many thousands of businesses across the country, is facing a crisis unlike anything it has ever had to deal with.

“However, this is also a chance for people to demonstrate just how resilient and vitally important our communities really are.

“By working together and offering each other help and comfort, we will be able to emerge from this terrible situation having forged stronger and more enduring links which will prove invaluable in the future,” he added.

As part of our #stayconnected initiative, we are offering regular content through our website and e-newsletters, from virtual tours and audio guides to education resources and plenty of good news on the estate, alongside other national and global activities and initiatives sure to keep you busy and entertained.

Nicky Godding

Nicky Godding is editor of The Business Magazine. Before her journalism career, she worked mainly in public relations moving into writing when she was invited to launch Retail Watch, a publication covering retail and real estate across Europe. After some years of constant travelling, she tucked away her passport and concentrated on business writing, co-founding a successful regional business magazine. She has interviewed some of the UK’s most successful entrepreneurs who have built multi-million-pound businesses and reported on many science and technology firsts. She reports on the region’s thriving business economy from start-ups, family businesses and multi-million-pound corporations, to the professionals that support their growth and the institutions that educate the next generation of business leaders.