BOB TO BE CHARITY PARTNER AT BUILDERS' MERCHANTS AWARDS 2022
The prestigious Builders' Merchants Awards (BMA) are taking place this November – and Band of Builders (BoB) will be there as a charity partner for this year’s event.
More than 700 people are expected to attend the event, which brings together a host of key figures from the merchant industry, as well as those from the wider construction community, to celebrate the very best achievements over the last 12 months.
The 21st annual awards are taking place at the Park Plaza Westminster Bridge in London on Friday 25 November 2022 and are being hosted by comedian, TV personality, radio host and star of the West End Jason Manford.
This year, there are 24 categories of awards across a spectrum of achievements, which embody and showcase why merchants are so pivotal to the construction industry and lead the way in delivering initiatives and innovations that are constantly driving the sector forward. There will also be a Lifetime Achievement award that will be announced on the night.
Organisers says that the awards offer the perfect opportunity to acknowledge the amazing people, teams, projects and innovations that have helped our industry grow the economy and helped community safety and sustainability.
There are a host of hotly contested awards in categories including Sustainable & Environmental Initiative of the Year, Training Initiative of the Year, Community Initiative of the Year, Diversity & Inclusion in Merchanting and Best Customer Service of the Year.
We have been selected as one of two charity partners by the organisers of the event, along with CRASH, which helps homelessness and hospice charities with life-changing building projects, creating places that care for people when they are most in need.
Our team, led by CEO Gavin Crane, will be there not only to support the awards but also to make the most of the opportunity of being a charity partner to spread the word about the work that BoB does.
“We are looking forward to catching up with existing supporters of our charity and telling our story to people we haven’t met yet – as it’s some tale,” said Gavin.
“We are gaining a growing reputation because of the projects that we deliver to help tradespeople battling illness or injury, making a life-changing difference to them and their families. We are just about to complete our 28th project to extend and make the driveway wheelchair friendly for Pete in Burgess Hill, who was left with a profound physical disability after suffering hypoxic brain damage brought on by a heart attack.
“Pete’s project comes hot on the heels of our recent announcement that, thanks to our community of volunteers and supporters, we have delivered a landmark £1m worth of projects – in just six years.
“The figures are incredible: 772 volunteers have given up their time for free on projects that took a total of 203 days and involved 18,087 hours of labour – with the estimated delivery value of on average project being more than £37,200.
“But BoB’s work doesn’t stop there. Our Big Brew initiative has become an annual campaign to encourage UK construction industry workers and tradespeople to come together over a brew to support one another and remove the taboo around mental health in the sector. In March, we launched our counselling service, and this autumn we launched a new text line so that tradespeople, contractors and their families who are struggling to open up in person can text BOB to 85258 at any time to get much-needed help.”
Looking ahead to the awards, Gavin added: “It’s going to be great to see the merchant industry coming out in force to support the awards and celebrating some incredible achievements.
“We are very grateful that the BMA chose us and CRASH as charity partners – and any funds raised will be very much appreciated. But the main reason we are looking forward to attending the awards is the opportunity to be able to say thank you in person to all those who already support Band of Builders.”