The Derby Conference Centre Supporting Local Charities and Students Through Covid-19

UNITED KINGDOM / AGILITYPR.NEWS / January 28, 2021 / The Derby Conference Centre is a multifunctional event space located in central Derby. Throughout the years, they have quite rightly made a name for themselves by being a pillar of support to the Derbyshire community; in particularly by supporting students and charities, and this support hasn’t stopped even during the most challenging of times.

Managing Director, Matthew Hutchings, has been mentoring students from the University of Derby for almost a year and more recently, Sales & Conference Office Manager, Rebecca Prime, has also begun the mentoring process. The University of Derby mentoring scheme is a great way for students to speak with a professional who has experience in their desired career field to assist and give advice.

After participating in a selection day, possible mentors and mentees get the chance to interview each other to ensure a perfect fit. During the period of mentoring, Matt has supported his mentee through CV assistance, transitioning from a student to employee role and supporting through a dissertation which focussed on hospitality and events. What’s so great about the scheme is that not only do the mentees benefit from a mentor for their final year, but they also get to enjoy their support through their first two years of employment to assist with the transition.

When asked why Matt had decided to mentor, he said: “I know when I look back on my career the great leaders that supported me. I wanted to make sure that I used my experience to give something back and support the next generation coming through. Looking back, I’ve learned so much about myself as well as experiences that I had forgotten about from years ago.”

The Derby Conference Centre has always strived to give back to the Derbyshire community. In fact, over the last few months, their chosen charity, me&dee, raised enough money to open their lodge which will be known as the ‘me&dee’s hideaway’ which was part of their 2020 vision. me&dee are a local Derbyshire charity that was formed to create special moments and memories to both children and adults who have a life-threatening, life-shortening or terminal conditions. The hideaway will now be the charities ‘forever home’ for families to visit and create memories while being in a safe and relaxing place that is comfortable towards palliative care needs.

Over the past 2 years, DCC have been raising money for the charity through various events such as comedy nights, celebratory speaker nights and staff events. Members of the DCC team have also previously took on the Dales of Yorkshire in a Three Peaks Challenge.

Matthew Hutchings explains: “Team DCC decided to support me&dee because they are a local charity supporting local people. Their story of creating special moments and memories to both children and adults who have a life-threatening, life-shortening, or terminal conditions resonated with the team who have lost loves ones over the past couple of years. This was also close to our hearts as one of our local contractor owners had been diagnosed with a life-threatening condition and me&dee was supporting his family at this critical moment.

When they told us their vision of wanting to buy a lodge within 20 miles of the area to save families from travelling hundreds of miles to their previous venue, we had to help them achieve their goal.”

It has been great to see the local community succeed even during such a challenging time. If you have been moved by any of these local opportunities, please follow the links below.

You can find out more about the Derby Mentoring Scheme here: https://www.derby.ac.uk/alumni/benefits/mentoring-scheme/

Read more on the work that me&dee do here: https://www.meanddee.co.uk

Visit The Derby Conference Centre website here: https://thederbyconferencecentre.com