One of the West Midlands fastest growing principal contractors has pledged to support cancer patients as part of its fundraising drive for 2024.
Inco Contracts, which delivers hundreds of turnkey commercial refurbishment schemes across the UK every year, has named the Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust Charity as its charity of the year and has already identified three specific targets.
The Penkridge-based company has committed to 1000 hypoallergenic comfort bags – filled with contents to assist patients while undergoing their chemotherapy journey, including wet wipes, lavender oil, tissues, activity books, a handheld fan, lip balm, udder cream, a pocket hug and, following a campaign to engage local ‘crafters’, a soft hand knitted heart.
This initial pledge will be followed by raising money for the supply of 500 water bottles to help individuals undergoing radiation, who must drink a certain amount of water to ensure they have the correct level of urine in their bowel.
It sounds simple, but this measure saves time and stress for the patient, whilst also reducing waiting times for the hospital.
Finally, Inco will use its supply chain skills to help the Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust Charity refurbish the Deanesly Centre garden, nestled in the very heart of New Cross hospital.
“We are passionate about supporting good causes in the communities we operate in and those that mean something to our staff, with nearly £20,000 raised for three charities since 2021,” explained Tim Lewis, Senior Contracts Manager for Inco in the West Midlands.
“Cancer is something that touches pretty much every family in the UK and the Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust does an excellent job in helping treat thousands of patients every year, giving many of them the opportunity to live longer and some to have full recoveries.”
He continued: “The ‘Chemo Comfort Bags’ are such a great idea and were only introduced as a trial to start with. However, the impact and feedback has been huge, and we wanted to ensure the Trust could give them to more people, including a children’s version.
(l-r) Amanda Winwood (Charity Development Manager), Tim Lewis (Inco Contracts), Clare Banks (Matron), Lindsey Wagstaff (Community Events Fundraiser) and Elaine Beach (Acute Oncology Service Co-ordinator)
“We’ve even engaged the skills of Albrighton Craft Group, who will be part of a network of crafters knitting up to 1000 woollen hearts that will go into the bags and be given to other patients.”
44-year-old Tim Lewis has had his own battle with cancer, thankfully recovering after a two-year course of treatment that involved both chemotherapy and radiation.
He received the all-clear last year and is urging more people to make sure they go for a check-up if they spot anything out of the ordinary.
“We want to raise over £10,000 from a series of events and individual challenges and that will go towards the bags, the radiation bottles and any specific projects we can help with,” added Tim.
“The Deanesly Centre garden refurbishment is the first one we have committed to, and this will see some of our staff and our suppliers swap their day jobs for a mini-DIY SOS project, including jet washing and cleaning down the existing patio garden, installing furniture to meet the new design and apply manifestations to existing windows.”
Amanda Winwood, Charity Development Manager at The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust Charity, added her support: “It’s so important that local businesses get behind our work and help us to make life a little easier for our patients.
“The Chemo Comfort Bags, the radiation bottles and any little extras or big projects that are outside of direct treatment must be achieved through fundraising, donations or companies giving up their time to help.”
She concluded: “Inco Contracts has gone above and beyond, committing to working with us for the entire year and not only donating money, but also their construction expertise and their time.”
Inco Contracts has built a strong reputation for delivering more than 2100 industrial and commercial refurbishment schemes across the UK.
These often tend to be turnkey in nature and involve the company working alongside architects, designers, and landlords to bring warehouse and commercial office space back to life or to the required modern-day standards.
Satellite offices in Warrington and Stevenage continue to attract new opportunities and the workforce has trebled to 40 since a Management Buy-out (MBO) was led by current Managing Director David Cotterill and Operations Director Sam Norton in 2020.
For further information, please visit www.incocontracts.co.uk or follow @incocontracts on Twitter.
