“Each year IDS select a charity to have as our “Charity of the Year” and do lots of different fundraising events throughout the year. This year we have chosen ShelterBox (Reg. Charity 1096479)
ShelterBox are an international disaster relief charity based in Helston, Cornwall in the UK which delivers emergency shelter, warmth and dignity to people affected by disaster worldwide.
They deliver the essentials a family needs to survive in the immediate aftermath. 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.
Please visit www.shelterbox.org for more information.
If you would like to contribute to our charity or donate the proceeds of your show, recital or event, please contact us on +44 (0) 1626 36 32 32. If you would like to make a donation when placing your order please ask to add product code DSB or add this product code to your online order.
This year we have a Charity Committee who will lead and motivate the fundraising efforts throughout the year. We hope to raise a lot of money through a variety of events including monthly quizzes, raffles, bake days, lottery bonus ball etc – all have total or part proceeds going towards the charity fund.
Fundraising aside, we also want to create awareness of the hard work and support that ShelterBox give to those in need of help around the world.
On Friday 18th May 2012 we will be hosting our first ever Charity Ball in true IDS style. Business leaders, friends and colleagues will don their masks and gather at the Lavender House Hotel in Ashburton, Devon for a Masquerade Ball to raise money for ShelterBox, our Charity of the Year.
With a wonderful champagne reception, dinner, live music by the fabulous 'One Foot in the Groove' and dancing until 2am a fun-filled evening will be had by all. Not forgetting this is a charity fund raising evening, so there will be an opportunity to bid for some fantastic prizes at our Auction.
To find out more please email charityball@ids.co.uk
Our success so far:
April 2012 - Money raised to date is £3,953.85
This month we raised money in many various ways, it has been a busy month! Firstly we had our Easter hamper raffle which raised £54, followed by a sweepstake for the Grand National raising £40. We also celebrated World Dance Day, in which some staff members dressed up in dance attire from ‘around the world’ or in non-uniform.
A dance themed team quiz was also held and this raised £25.50. Lastly we held a raffle to win 5 pairs of tickets to our Charity Ball which is being held on Friday 18th May (as details shown above) and this raised a further £19.00. A "Guess the International Parcels" competition was also held.
March 2012 - Money raised to date is £3,791.80
March was National Bed Month and in celebration of this we
had a “Come to Work In Your Pyjamas” day. Here is a photo of some of us from each department who dared to do it. We raised £22.
Also this month we raised £28.55 from the vending machine, even though many people gave up chocolate for Lent! There was a further £4.90 donated which gave a total for March of £55.45.
The grand total to date is a magnificent £3,791.80 (that is 6 ShelterBoxes already) and we still have another 5 months of fundraising ahead of us.
This March ShelterBoxes have been sent to the mountainous area of Cuzco in South Eastern Peru for families who have been made homeless by recent mudslides that buried their homes. ShelterBox tents are also being used by the Africa Doctors Association who have been doing minor operations and delivering treatments for those in need of medical attention following an arms depot that exploded in the capital of Brazzaville in the Republic of Congo on the 8 March, which flattened a large area and displaced over 14,000 people.
It is stories like these that make us determined to raise as much money as possible, and we would like to thank you for your support as well.
February 2012 - Money raised to date is £3,736.35
A Valentine themed day was held on the 14th and staff paid 50p to take part in our red, pink & hearts dress up! There was also an IDS Bake-Off, home baked goodies were on sale and staff could also vote for the one they enjoyed the most. The winning baker was Jo Fortt, Production Assistant, with her chocolate fudge cake. Here she is receiving her “Master Baker” trophy!
A ‘Guess the International Parcels’ competition was also held and again staff paid 50p for their guess. The winner was Lesley, Packing Team Leader, with an exact guess of 564 parcels!
January 2012 - Money raised to date is £3,695.14
We held 2 events in January; a Tombola and ‘Guess the Parcels’ competition.
Throughout the month, lots of staff brought in unwanted gifts and odd items to be used in the tombola that was held on 27th January. With prizes ranging from wine and jewellery through to teddy bears it was no surprise that all the prizes had gone within 30 minutes...in total the tombola raised a whopping £43.00!
A ‘Guess the International Parcels’ competition was also carried out, staff paid 50p for one guess of total parcels that would be sent out on ‘International Post’ throughout January. The winner was Jan, our Data Co-ordinator, with a guess of 272 parcels - the actual total was 473 parcels.
December 2011 - Money raised to date is £3,627.14
In December a raffle was held for a wonderful Christmas Hamper that was created using food and drink items kindly donated by the IDS Charity Committee & Management Team, the lucky winner was Emma Boon from the Sales Team (as pictured) - the raffle was a huge success and raised £120.00!
No other events as such took place during the month but fundraising was still carrying on behind the scenes. IDS donated the savings made by sending e-cards to the charity, a fantastic £350!
Anne, our CEO, also sent personal e-cards and a further £30 was donated. Vending machine and customer donations of £19.05 were also collected towards the total.
November 2011 - Money raised to date is £3,116.49
In November we ran a Charity Stall in the Marketplace within the centre of Newton Abbot selling dance related items, including many costume samples. We attracted quite a lot of attention and after a slow start things picked up and the selling began in earnest, culminating in a lovely lady from an Amateur Dramatic group in Gloucester who couldn’t believe what bargains we had on offer.
We last saw her struggling with a large black bin bag and several carrier bags filled with hats, costumes, tights and accessories as she made her way to the other side of the town to catch a train to Gloucester!! She emailed us the next day to say she had made it safely home and that the rest of the committee were delighted with her purchases but asked her why she did not buy more!
Thanks to her and our other customers we raised £197.76 that day...well worth the early start.
Also this month Anne, our CEO, held a jewellery party at her home and raised a magnificent £310, our customers donated £17 by adding a donation to their orders, and our vending machine raised £19.45...wow we do like our chocolate!!
October 2011 - Money raised to date is £2,538.44
Customers have been continuing to contribute to the charity fund with £27.00 being donated in October via the DSB product code. Sample costumes have also been available to IDS staff with donations being given, this has raised £39.50 so far. 
A Halloween themed day was held on 28th October, with spooky home baked treats on offer, a raffle for 2 x Cream Teas at Fermoys, Newton Abbot and 2 x Child entry tickets for Paignton Zoo and a fancy dress competition. These events helped raise £48.77.
Here are some of the spooktacular fancy dress entries: Charlene won 1st place (as pictured in W1429 - Neon Skeleton Lady Costume) and Ted won 2nd place (as pictured in black catsuit with pink cape).
September 2011 - Money raised to date is £2,439.50
With so much happening in-house at IDS events for September were quieter than normal. There was no dressing up, or “fun days” but it didn’t mean IDS were not quietly fundraising behind the scenes.
We have a vending machine at IDS and 5p from each sale is donated to the charity. We also have IDS trolley keyrings for IDS staff to purchase – £3.00 raised for September! Customers are still kindly continuing to add the DSB product code to their order, and with donations coming in the grand total is steadily increasing each month!
August 2011 - Money raised to date is £1,822.93
Throughout August several small fundraising events took place which included; customer’s donating to their order by adding product code DSB. At our International Dance Teachers’ Conference (IDTC) held in London, money was kindly donated by the delegates for refreshments.
Our Directors, Anne and Ian, held a private party during the Dawlish air show and donations given. A “Back To School” and bake day were also held, school uniform or football/rugby shirts could be worn at a cost of 50p. August events raised over £400!
Here are some of the IDS team back at school!
July 2011 - Money raised to date is £1,453.15
On Saturday 2nd July two members of the IDS team, Chris Hatswell (Bulk Warehouse Operative, on left) and Lewis Thompson (Fulfillment Operative, on right), completed a massive 76 mile sponsored bike ride. The boys started at Barnstable and ended 6 hours and 45 minutes later in Plymouth and managed to raise £294.
This was a huge achievement for them, well done from all at IDS! Here they are on a quick break in Bideford.
June 2011 - Money raised to date is £1,110.24
Week commencing 13th June was ShelterBox’s Big Green Box Week, throughout the week several events were organised;
Monday - Green Bake Day 
Tuesday - Guess the Big Green Pictures
Wednesday - The Big Green Team Quiz. There was a draw between ‘The Warehouse Office’ and ‘The Monkeys’, the winner being ‘The Monkeys’ as they named the most green fruits.
Thursday - Big Green Dress Up
Friday - Guess How Many Green Bottle Tops and The Big Green Raffle.
The bottle top winner won 2 Torquay United tickets, to watch any match this forthcoming season. The big green raffle also proved popular, there were some very good prizes which included tickets for Paignton Zoo, Newquay Zoo family ticket, Calendar Girls theatre tickets in Torquay and a £20 Amazon voucher.
Money raised from the events that took place raised £74.90
2 tickets to The Royal Ballet School’s Summer Performance, at The Royal Opera House in London for Friday 8th July were also kindly donated by our Directors Anne & Ian. Staff members bought raffle tickets for their chance to win, and Anne & Ian also generously added overnight accommodation and travel for the winners!…and the lucky winners were Jan Chope & Jacqueline Colclough
All proceeds for the ballet draw were kindly donated to the charity and a further £44.00 was raised.
May 2011 - Money raised to date is £977.44
Our DSB donation facility is proving to be popular and customers have been making donations when placing their orders, a fantastic £168.50 has been given to date!
A raffle was held for a range of goodies all donated by local suppliers which included adventure day tickets, 7 x garden centre season passes, £5 gift voucher, cinema tickets, pizza cafe vouchers, chocolate, aftershave and more. The raffle raised an impressive £76! - IDS generously matched the raffle proceeds which bought the total to a fantastic £152.
Other activities that took place this month were a cryptic quiz of the month and bonus ball draw.
April 2011 - Money raised to date is £483.67
Staff kindly donated bric-a-brac for a Tombola. A sweepstake was run for the Grand National. Quiz of the month. The Royal Wedding saw IDS staff dressed in honorary red, white and blue, for which all proceeds were donated.
Charlotte Gilmartin, IDS' Despatch and Management System Clerk, recently completed the Great West Run in Exeter, Devon which is 13.1 miles. She completed the course in 2 hours 4 minutes and raised much needed sponsorship.
We also implemented the DSB donation option for customers wishing to make a donation towards the charity when placing their order/s (details above).
March 2011 - Money raised to date is £258.30
Tickets for a local production of ‘Heatwave’ were given as a prize in the March raffle. Quiz of the month. Bonus ball draw.
February 2011 - Money raised to date is £146.62
As IDS have adopted a charity mascot bear it needed a name, so a “name the bear” competition was held and ‘ShelterBox Sam’ joined 
IDS, Sam is able to join IDS staff on their holiday or travels around Devon and his holiday only costs 50p - which is donated to the charity. We raffled off a treasure chest of goodies that had been donated by one of our Suppliers. Quiz of the month. Bonus ball draw.