A panel of inspirational speakers from the football industry was a highlight of B4’s latest networking breakfast, where OCF spoke about the Raise’24 collective fundraising initiative.
Over 60 members of B4’s business networking group enjoyed listening to a wide range of speakers at B4’s Platinum Quarterly breakfast at Blenheim Palace last week, including OCF’s Head of Development Kate Parrinder.
A panel of speakers from the football industry spoke about the power of football to build cohesive communities, with Jonathan Duckworth of the Oxfordshire Football Association highlighting that, although our county seems universally wealthy and privileged, there are ten areas locally that are amongst the most deprived in all of England. The FA locally is working to include everyone in football, by running refugee tournaments and walking football, and bringing people of all backgrounds together in solidarity around the power of the sport.
Justin Merritt, owner of Oxford City FC, made clear that his is a club firmly grounded in the community, which runs food banks, disability leagues and national netball games alongside ‘conventional’ football; and Tim Williams of Oxford United Football Club talked about a “wider definition of success” beyond the club’s recent promotion to the Championship, which includes being an authentic part of the local community.
Addressing the guests at the start of the event, OCF’s Kate Parrinder made the connection between football and the forthcoming B4 Raise’24 event, of which OCF is a gold charity partner: “In football, two teams compete against each other – there are winners and losers, but that element of competition can also bring out the best in each player or team, making them hungry and driven towards their goal.
“But the ability to collaborate, to work in synchrony as a team, is also completely indispensable in achieving success. I think we can all see the benefits of collaboration in modern businesses, and as part of the B4 network – although I am sure there are still quite a few businesspeople who find that competition drives them to be their best too, just like in football!
“Happily, our B4 Raise event this Christmas will be an outlet for both of these very human instincts. Teams will compete with each other to raise the most money or secure donations from the most famous donor they can find. We might even have a prize for the team that manages to get festive gifts from people named Mary, Joseph and Nicolas, and certainly an award for the best-dressed team.
“However, I can say that as part of the organising team for Raise‘24, one of the most rewarding and refreshing things has been the chance to genuinely collaborate with other organisations to create something that’s bigger than all of us. To work together on something constructive and mutually beneficial where we can learn from and be inspired by each other. Where each team member brings different and complementary talents to the party, with a clear shared goal in mind: to raise £150k for our beloved Oxfordshire communities. That’s really what we want businesses to do when they sign up to Raise – join something collective with a big heart.
“So just like our football teams, we are now scouting for the best talent amongst Oxfordshire’s business community. Who can apply their professional sales and marketing skills to fundraising? Who has amazing networks they can call in favours from at Christmas? And who has the brilliant project managers and administrators who can keep their team on track?”
If your business would like to enter a team to join the competitive and collaborative efforts this Christmas, please find out more about Raise’24 here.