Tees Life Tees Life Issue 9 | Page 25

CHARITY Queensway celebrates 10 years with charitable donations A leading Teesside-based orthodontic practice is marking 10 years of serving patients by donating to ten charities that have played a part in its development. To mark its 10-year anniversary earlier this year, Queensway Orthodontics – the North’s leading specialist provider of Invisalign and Invisalign Teen – is donating to charities including Dementia Friends, Kidscape, Butterwick Hospice, Billingham Foodbank and Daisy Chain. Queensway Orthodontics has a long history of community engagement and has worked closely with charities, including Daisy Chain, to ensure that the team had adequate training in caring for people who live with autism. As an organisation with a duty of care, the team also worked with charity Kidscape to ensure it had measures in place to encourage good behaviour and prevent bullying in all its forms. In addition, every three months Queensway Orthodontics visits Billingham Foodbank to deliver toothbrushes and toothpastes which are then used in packs to Rockliffe Hall raises £2,600 for High Tide Foundation Rockliffe Hall chief executive Eamonn Elliott presents the cheque to Lauren Bywater from The High Tide Foundation. Pictured (left to right): Jo Mckenna, orthodontic service manager, Tracey Wright, events manager at Daisy Chain, Neeraj Sharma, chief executive officer at Daisy Chain, and Leanne Sowerby, treatment coordinator at Queensway Orthodontics. provide three days’ worth of emergency food and toiletries to people in crisis. Dr Guy Deeming, specialist orthodontist and partner at Queensway Orthodontics, who founded the firm in 2009, said: “I am incredibly proud of what the team have achieved over the last decade. “More than 12,000 patients have been seen and thousands of smiles created for the North-East. It wouldn’t have been possible without the dedicated team and loyal support of our local community and patients. “It has been a huge privilege to serve and look after patients in Billingham and Teesside over the last decade. In today's world, being part of a community seems much less important than it used to be.” R ockliffe Hall presented a cheque for £2,600 to The High Tide Foundation following the five star resort’s year- long partnership with the Tees charity. The High Tide Foundation brings together industry and education across Teesside to increase awareness of career opportunities, showcase the region’s industries and raise aspirations for young people in the Tees Valley. Rockliffe Hall, in Hurworth, near Darlington, hosted a number of events for the foundation including a special afternoon tea, the High Tide ball and a golf day. On check-out, guests were also asked if they’d like to make a voluntary £1 donation to High Tide. Tracey Wright, events manager at Daisy Chain, added: “It’s brilliant when businesses and organisations offer us their support as well as taking advantage of our training services to help them understand autism. “Getting a real overview of what people on the autism spectrum need to help them can really help a business with their clients. We rely on our local organisations and community to support us so we can continue offering services both to them and families affected by autism.” Queensway, which also has a site in Jesmond, Newcastle, employs 24 members of staff and currently has more than 1,500 people in treatment at its Billingham-based practice. Chief executive Eamonn Elliott said: “It’s been our pleasure to partner with High Tide Foundation as our nominated charity. “We’re thrilled to be able to hand over this cheque for £2,600 to a fabulous charity that is dedicated to helping young people in the Tees Valley.” Lauren Bywater, general manager of The High Tide Foundation, added: “We’re so grateful to Rockliffe Hall for its support. “One of the many things we enjoyed about working with Rockliffe is the fact that it shares our values, championing Teesside. “It was a superb venue for our events and enabled us to raise vital funds for the foundation, in addition to the guest donations. We’ll definitely return in the future.” tees-life.co.uk 25