OIAM Charity Business Lunch, ‘Building for Success Bradford 2025’ - read all about it!
On Wednesday 23rd April, the annual One In A Million Charity Business Lunch, ‘Building for Success Bradford’ returned to The Midland Hotel. Sponsored by Complete IT Systems, Lily and Quantuma, this year’s event was well-supported by guests from the Bradford Business Community.
The afternoon opened proceedings by welcoming guests, speakers and sponsors. Dr Gareth Jones, Community Executive for One In A Million, gave a fascinating update on current charity activities, and highlighted some of the recent research that shows just how much our programmes are needed in our area. He was followed on stage by Craig McHugh, who gave an update on how businesses and individuals can support our charity. This included a message from Wayne Jacobs, One In A Million CEO, who wanted to update guests and charity supporters about some recent health challenges he has faced.
Ahead of lunch, we welcomed James Mason to the stage. As Chief Executive of the West and North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce, James has a unique perspective on the city, and shared many positive moves that are being made by the Chamber of Commerce to bring the Bradford business region to a much wider global network.
James said, “I’m proud to have been part of this event as the business community of Bradford came together to support one of the most impactful charities within the district. An opportunity also to demonstrate the role that the West and North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce can play in supporting all organisations looking for growth”.
After a delicious lunch, served by the fantastic staff of The Midland Hotel, and plenty of opportunities to catch up with old and new friends, the next speaker was Matthew Dakin.
As Head of Sponsorship for Bradford City of Culture 2025, Matthew had some exciting updates to share with the room, and spoke not only about the events happening during the year, but also about the legacy that the City of Culture will leave to the Bradford community.
Matthew said, “It was great to be part of this and to hear the amazing work One In A Million Charity and the team are doing!”.
Following this, we had a round of Heads and Tails, where the winner received a Samsung Galaxy Tablet, generously donated by one of our event sponsors, Complete IT. Congratulations to our winner Mike Martin from T L Dallas.
Next up, we heard from our final speaker of the day, David Shepherd. David is the Strategic Director of Place for Bradford City Council, and had some positive and honest thoughts to share with the attendees regarding the current business climate in the city and future plans for development and regeneration.
We would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to everyone who attended our OIAM Charity Business Lunch 2025, guest speakers and our main sponsors Complete IT Systems, Lily and Quantuma for supporting the afternoon and helping make it a great success for the children and young people of Bradford.
Here’s what our event sponsors had to say (CLICK TO READ):
Ben Gregg, Complete IT Systems said, “It’s fantastic to be able to support such a great charity that helps the children and young people of Bradford living in disadvantaged communities and makes a difference to them!”.
Barry Clegg, Lily said, “As a long-term supporter of One In A Million Lily was proud to once again be a key sponsor of their very well-attended Charity business lunch. Alongside a great networking event and chance to continue to support OIAM it was pleasing to hear about the economic and cultural opportunities that 2025 and beyond holds for the wider Bradford business community as City of Culture 2025”.
Manraj Mand, Quantuma said, “My colleague Rehan Ahmed and I had the pleasure of attending the One In A Million Charity Lunch at the Midland Hotel in Bradford, attended by our valued guests. Quantuma has proudly supported One In A Million Charity for several years, and it’s always inspiring to witness the incredible initiatives they lead and the lasting impact they make in the community. It’s also encouraging to see Bradford continuing its journey of growth, an underrated city full of potential and ambition, steadily building a bright future. Thanks to our guests for attending and a special mention to my good friend Matthew Dakin for promoting all things Bradford!”.
One In A Million is so grateful for your valued support, and it is needed now more than ever. We have a full programme of events coming up, and would love it if you could support us at some of these.
Please look out for news of our exciting future events and we hope to see you again soon!
Team One In A Million
events@oneinamillion.org.uk
