The Big Yellow team in Watford are in strict training after entering “Push it for Peace,” a five mile obstacle course in aid of The Peace Hospice. The challenge sees participants climbing and crawling through a series of obstacles in Cassiobury Park, Watford, the muddiest course in Hertfordshire.

The Peace Hospice cares for people across South West Hertfordshire living with life-limiting or terminal illnesses and provides support for their families. They offer care, outpatient and family services, therapy and a hospice-at-home service.

Each year The Peace Hospice aims is to raise £3.8 million in order to run and develop their services, which is free to patients and families.
With the support of Big Yellow customers the team are keen to help the charity reach their target, led by the area charity co-ordinator, Nikki.
You can make a donation at the Just Giving page.

Big Yellow is proud sponsor of the Southwark Tigers, the first inner city rugby club for young people in England.
On the 10th April, we were lucky enough to be invited to the House of Lords, where Lord Tim Clement-Jones held a reception for some of the players, parents and sponsors, thanking them for all the work they do for the club.

The founder of the Southwark Tigers, Vernon Neve-Dunn, says: “Our parents were pleased to be recognised for the work that they do for the club. And it was great for me to be able to thank your company personally.” The children also performed the ‘Tigers Haka’, a dance they want to do pre-match.

For more information about the Southwark Tigers click here.

The team at Armadillo Hull has always been big on sport. So when John Colley spotted an appeal for sponsors from the chairman of North Ferriby United, he knew he wanted to do something to help. John felt particularly strongly about backing the team as he knew that all sponsorship revenue would be put towards supporting the community club, rather than individual players.

Enlisting the backing of his colleagues at Armadillo, the business dug deep and got behind their home team by sponsoring six match balls. Armadillo’s support has contributed to both the men’s and women’s teams from the Under 7’s, right up to the seniors.

North Ferriby’s First Team is currently sitting top of the Evo-Stick North League and if they achieve promotion this season, it’ll be their highest position in team history.

John Colley says: “As a local business it’s important for us to be supporting local causes and as an avid footie fan, I was immediately drawn to North Ferriby. The team had really struggled for sponsorship after a flurry of businesses withdrew their support, but now they are storming ahead in the table this season.”

Armadillo Self Storage in Hull, held a rugby league match last month in aid of helping Jasmine Jones, a local girl diagnosed with cancer.

The game was held to raise money for the ongoing medical and transport costs Jasmine needs to get the best treatment for her condition. It was between the Great Britain All Stars and a local Hull select team. The Great Britain All Stars team were coached by Rugby League legend Andy Gregory (ex Wigan and GB Captain), and was captained by Paul Newlove who is another ex Great Britain player.

Organised by Life For a Kid, a charity that has been supported by Armadillo Self storage, the charity activity raised a fantastic £1,500 in total with Armadillo donating £50 towards the match.

Every year, Armadillo Self Storage gives free space to Life For a Kid amounting to £1,794. John Colley, from the Armadillo Hull branch, gives regular donations to the charity so for this Dean Hoggard (Life For a Kid founder) agreed to put the Armadillo Self Storage logo on the GB All Stars rugby league shirts as this is a team who play up and down the country raising money for Life For a Kid.

Life for a Kid is a charity that helps children and their families that have been affected by serious illness. More information can be found at their website. The founder, Dean, said “Help from John Colley and Armadillo is priceless for the Life for a Kid charity and a big thank you to John for his continued support”.

The Nottingham Big Yellow Self Storage team are proud to be supporting Operation Orphan’s ‘Keep a Child Warm’ project this winter.

This amazing charity has been improving the lives of children in Europe, Asia and Africa by collecting unwanted items and giving essential packages to them for the tough winter months. The charity was designed to help create a brighter future for orphans and vulnerable children, for whom education, employment and a decent standard of living are simply out of reach.

Their projects aim to tackle major issues including: extreme poverty, harsh winter condition, human trafficking, HIV/AIDS, education, health, clean water and safe sanitation. The essential kits which they’re providing through their ‘Keep a Child Warm’ project include:

- A coat
- A scarf
- A pair of gloves
- A hat
- A pair of thick warm socks
- A fleece blanket

Our Nottingham store is honored to be helping such a great cause. Click here For more information about the ‘Keep a Child Warm’ project and to learn what you can do to help a child this winter. You can also see some of the hard work they do here.

On the 23rd September nine members of the Big Yellow team took part in a five mile assault style obstacle course through Cassiobury Park in Watford.

Nikki Wilson, Scott Gosbell, Gino Cacioppo, Neil Anderson, Darren Naylor, Aqua Koroma, Charlotte Robertson, Kyle Gower and Farayi O’Connor and their friends braved the freezing cold water pools, monkey bars, cargo nets and of course the mud in order to raise money and awareness for the Peace Hospice.

The Peace Hospice cares for people living with life limiting or terminal illnesses and supports their families from across South West Hertfordshire. They provide care, outpatient services, therapy, family services and a hospice at home service.

Each year their aim is to raise £3.8 million of charitable income in order to run and develop their services while all the care offered to patients and their families is free.

There was a great turn out on the day with over 550 people taking part. The event itself raised just over £30,000. Keep up the good work, we’re proud to be part of it.

Live locally? To sign up for 2013’s event click here.

Big Yellow Self Storage in Gloucester is proud to be supporting their local children’s charity, Gloucester Little Bundles.

Since March 2012 Gloucester Little Bundles has been helping pregnant women and families in difficulty. As part of the Gloucester and District branch of the NCT (National Children’s Trust), volunteers have been working tirelessly to source and provide much needed clothing, equipment and toiletries for those most in need.

After recent growth and an increase in donations, the charity soon found they were struggling to store everything so Big Yellow Self Storage stepped in.

Speaking at the official opening of the project’s new facility on the 12th October, project manager Laine Lewis said “Little Bundles started almost three years ago with about six people living in a room.”

“I would like to thank all the referees and our team of helpers who drive all over the area picking up and dropping off to make sure that every referral is dealt with.”

“But finally, I’d like to say a huge thank you to Big Yellow, who have been awesome. We are so grateful for everything they have done to help us help as many families as possible.”

The pleasure is all ours and we are happy to help. For those who want to drop off any donations, Little Bundles is open Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings from 9:30 to 12:30pm at the Big Yellow Self Storage Gloucester branch.

Armadillo Self Storage are proud to announce a fantastic new partnership with J&B Recycling which will help raise money for two incredible charities The Butterwick Childrens Hospice & Cash for Kids.

J&B Recycling have donated a 1,100 litre recycling bin to Armadillo Storage in Stockton-on-Tees which will be used to collect cardboard generated at the site by our domestic and business customers. The partnership with J&B is having an outstanding success by providing a welcome service to our customers whilst also doing our bit for the environment

There are very few materials which can’t be recycled and J&B have guaranteed recycling outlets for paper, cardboard, cans, glass, plastic, wood and rubble. Their aim is to secure a greener future by diverting as much waste as possible away from landfill sites.

For every tonne of cardboard collected, J&B Recycling will make a donation to local charities of our choice, and more importantly the funds raised will be passed on in full!
Butterwick Hospice is a fantastic local charity which works extremely hard to improve the quality of life for those with life-limiting illnesses and their families. You can learn more about Butterwick and their amazing work at www.butterwick.org.uk.

The One Can Trust charity has been set up to facilitate community based projects, helping communities help themselves. Its first major project is the One Can Trust Foodbank, which provides a short-term free emergency food supply of non-perishable items such as soup, pasta, baked beans, cereals etc. to the thousands of families – including as many as12,000 children – who live in poverty in Buckinghamshire.

Big Yellow is proud to be supporting this great cause by providing the Foodbank with free storage space, taking public donations and storing them before they are packaged into food parcels at the One Can Trust Foodbank. If you want to make a donation you can do so through Big Yellow by simply delivering your collection to our store on London Road, High Wycombe. Let us know that it’s for the One Can Trust and we’ll keep it safe until it’s sorted.

To find out more about the work One Can trust is doing in the Wycombe area and to learn how you can get involved, visit the One Can Trust website.