15below – based on Queens Road, Brighton – organised a virtual afternoon tea for its team to recognise World Mental Health Day, raising £290 for its charity partner, Brighton Housing Trust (BHT).

BHT is dedicated to providing support to people with complex needs to secure safe accommodation, overcome barriers to work and learning, and address issues such as addiction, poverty and mental health across Sussex. BHT has partnered with 15below since January 2019, however, with fundraising events cancelled and traditional community fundraising activities put on hold, it has been a challenging year for the charity.

After supporting mental-health charity Mind for two years, the team at 15below voted for BHT to become its new charity partner and since January 2019 the tech firm has raised more than £5,600 with fundraising activities including a wellbeing breakfast, film club, raffle, 24-hour gameathon, and bake sales.

In response to the news, 15below CEO Nicholas Key said:

“We’d like to extend our thanks to Brighton Housing Trust for naming 15below its fundraiser of the month. While we’ve had to put more planning into our fundraising efforts with everyone working from home, it’s a great way for us to come together as a team. We know these must be really difficult times for all charities trying to raise vital funds and are pleased to be able to do our bit to support our local community.”

Despite the challenges it has faced, BHT has positive stories to tell too. It has managed to continue to run the vast majority of its services throughout the Covid-19 pandemic and, thanks to generous support from donors, has been able to provide tablets and dongles to clients that don’t have access to the internet to be able to check-in with them and provide support virtually. It has supported the local council to accommodate rough sleepers across Brighton, and last year its advice centres in Brighton, Eastbourne and Hastings prevented 927 households from becoming homeless.

Lauren Ellis, Fundraising Manager at BHT, said:

“At such a challenging time, it is reassuring to know that local companies, like 15below, continue to support us through Covid. Huge thanks to everyone at 15below for their fundraising efforts!”