For a new business networking group, Club 5 in support of The Prince of Wales Hospice, is making tremendous progress and being incredibly well-supported by local businesses. Membership numbers continue to grow every month, with everyone bringing something new to meetings.

Eitex hosted the meeting at our Castleford offices, and were delighted to welcome 30 attendees, all raring to go despite the early-ish hour. Breakfast and a spot of networking kicked off the event, giving members the chance to introduce themselves to each other, break the ice and relax a little.

Member and Hospice Benefits

Tracey from the hospice opened up the presentation section of the meeting. She discussed the hospice and gave us some information about upcoming fundraising events. She also discussed Club 5 and highlighted some of the benefits of membership.

It’s great when members get together in between actual Club 5 meetings, especially when attending or taking part in some of the fundraising events. Since the launch in November 2017 Club 5 has raised £10,054.51 in membership subscriptions & fundraising. This funds an incare bedroom for 4 weeks.

Community and helping each other is what we’re all about so it’s really rewarding when everyone shares our passion and gets involved. Together, local businesses really do make a difference to the work the hospice does and often find business opportunities too.

Shared Business Opportunities – and a Chance to Pay it Forward

Many of the 31 members have already seen increased business openings thanks to attending the meetings and networking with other local business owners. Part of the uniqueness of Club 5 lies in the membership list. As well as welcoming small business owners, we’re also delighted to have some big business names in the ranks. Asda, Chep and Haribo are names most of us are familiar with. They’re all hospice champions and attend Club 5 meetings.

While the meetings are designed to be fun and lively, there’s also plenty of business interest passing between members.

JS Recruitment is a new Eitex client as well as a Club 5 member. During Dean’s (Eitex MD) welcome to the members this morning, he revealed that Eitex is donating their first month’s IT Support payment back to the hospice.

Jilly and Sarah, from JS Recruitment, also gave our final presentation this morning, introducing themselves and explaining a little about their work. Based in Pontefract, they specialise in introducing talented people to companies looking for their skills.

The meeting ended with a demonstration on complementary therapies that the hospice offers promoting relaxation and reducing anxiety. We ended the meeting feeling relaxed and ready for the busy day ahead.

The next Club 5 meeting will be on Thursday the 6^th September, so there’s plenty of time to register your interest and join us for breakfast and networking.