Nottingham City Business Club (NCBC) has officially unveiled its charity partners for 2024 after teaming up with Emmanuel House, the Friary and Notts County Foundation in order to make a positive difference to a wide range of Nottinghamshire communities.

Established in 1924 and celebrating its centenary year in 2024, NCBC is held in high regard by the local business community for its monthly networking lunches – with guest speakers covering a range of topics and subjects of local interest.

Every year, the organisation selects a charity of the year, with the Club and its members raising money for the elected charity through donations at monthly lunches, events and the Club’s annual charity golf day.

This year, the Club has chosen to partner with three charities – Emmanuel House, the Friary and Notts County Foundation – all of which work to tackle homelessness in Nottingham while also supporting a number of other important community initiatives and programmes across the city and wider county. The news was announced at NCBC’s most recent monthly lunch in front of 200 members and guests.

Speaking about the decision to partner with the three elected charities, NCBC’s President Deborah Labbate said, “Myself and the Club’s council are pleased to be supporting Emmanuel House, The Friary and Notts County Foundation during the Club’s centenary year,”

“Each of these charities completes incredible work to support those in need within our local communities and with levels of homelessness on the rise both locally and nationally, we felt it was the right time to put our support behind these three vital causes.”

For all three of the charities, the support of NCBC has come at a crucial time – when generating donations from the public is more difficult than ever before as a result of a more uncertain economic picture for many.

“We are very grateful to be chosen as one of Nottingham City Business Club’s charities in its milestone year,” explains Denis Tully, CEO of Emmanuel House. “The connection with business is important to us as a charity because we know that people involved in commerce have special skills and means for how to best contribute to the charitable sector.”

Sam Crawford, CEO of Notts County Foundation, shares Denis’ views, adding, “All of us at Notts County Foundation are incredibly excited to be one of the Club’s nominated charities. I have had the great pleasure of being a member of the Club for the past two years and have been struck by the amazing generosity of members. We very much look forward to working alongside members and partner charities over the next 12 months and beyond, raising much needed funds which we will use to help improve the mental health of local residents.”

Ben Talbot, CEO of the Friary, echoes the words of both Sam and Denis, adding “There is a unique bond between local business and the charity sector in Nottingham, and this link up is a fantastic example of it. We intend to make the most of this opportunity to highlight the issue of homelessness in our city and county and we look forward to building new partnerships with the business community both in 2024 and beyond.”

All three charity CEO’s will be in attendance at the Club’s January lunch, with Deborah chairing a panel discussion around corporate responsibility, mental health and the cause and effect of ‘unseen homelessness’ and its effect on the workplace.

For more information about Nottingham City Business Club, including how to become a member, click here.