Businesses and charities from across Bath have been brought together at a ground-breaking event aimed at making the city a centre for collaboration.
More than 100 people attended the event at The Rec to hear presentations from eight charities and social enterprises.
Organised by the Future Talent Programme as part of the independent advisory group Bath Bridge, the event aimed to link up charities with businesses that want to use their time and expertise to help deliver projects that benefit people in Bath. 
Taking part were AgeUK Banes, Designability, The Woodworks Project, The Great Hall Project at Widcombe Junior School, The Holburne Museum, Bath City Farm, Make a Move and the Carers’ Centre BANES. The event also heard keynote speakers from Nationwide Building Society and Neighbourly, the innovative Bath firm that links community projects with companies that want to make a difference.
Bath Bridge director Lee Sears said: “We feel Bath has the potential to be a leader in corporate giving. We hope that this event will spark beautifully inventive collaborations between our brilliant socially-minded businesses and fantastic charities and social enterprises.
“At least one of the charities will benefit from the time, energy and expertise of the 12 young professionals selected for the Future Talent Programme, Bath Bridge’s year-long leadership mentoring programme.”
Carers’ Centre CEO Sonia Hutchison, pictured, added: “It was great to see businesses and charities from across Bath coming together to see how we can work together. At The Carers Centre Bath and North East Somerset we rely on the support we receive from businesses and individuals across Bath and we were really pleased to be able to talk about the support we would like from the Future Talent Programme.”
Nick Thompson, chief executive officer of Bath-based communication technology firm Gradwell said: “The Future Talent Programme is a great initiative and we are pleased to have two young people involved in this cohort. This event has been a great success to ignite some great partnerships across the city and I’ve enjoyed hearing about all the great work that is going on across Bath.”
Support for the event was provided by Great Western Wine, Bath Ales, Bath Rugby and brand agency The House.
