Making a difference with local charities
In 2016 Solid State Logic (SSL) joined a group of 40 local businesses who committed to helping Sobell House. Known as the ‘40 Club’, everyone works together to raise awareness and much needed funds so that this amazing organisation and its work can continue.
The staff at SSL have really taken this cause to heart, organising and participating in a variety of fundraising activities that have also brought the team together. Activities have included Bake Off competitions to more adventurous challenges such as walking the three peaks, Welsh 3000, Endure 24 and the Oxford half marathon.
Education projects bring through new talent
Many of the team at Allen & Heath find time to help out with local gigs and projects through their love of music, and for Carey Davies it has become his role within the company to interact regularly with the South West community. With 39 years’ experience at Allen & Heath and an active sound engineer, he is well qualified to support local music and education programs.
Working with students at music faculties at local colleges including Exeter and Falmouth University, Penryn and Truro colleges, Carey has helped these facilities bring through new talent that ultimately find their way into the industry, including working at Allen & Heath.
He also has developed close relationships with theatres, radio stations and charities. By providing donated kit, training and encouragement, the team at Allen & Heath have helped young budding engineer run events and find their way into full time work in audio.
Work experience and apprenticeships
Within R&D and engineering, Audiotonix has continued to offer work placements and internships for students of engineering and audio technology studies. Under the guidance of mentors across the different businesses, students develop real world skills and relationships that has resulted in many coming back to work in the industry.
We are also committed to certified apprenticeship programs that allow us to provide apprentices with unrivalled industry knowledge and support, and key qualifications within their chosen field. Working with industry bodies such as the EAL, we have additional support and guidance providing our apprentices with a rounded and approved program to support their development.
Investing in our industry’s wellbeing
Backup, the technical entertainment charity, provides financial support to industry technical professionals working in live events, theatre, TV and film in the UK, helping them to get back on their feet if they have suffered an accident or serious illness of any kind.
Backup grants have brought help and hope to industry members and their families during some of their darkest hours. DiGiCo has been a regular contributor from the outset, donating money from its own events, such as the hugely popular Pop Quiz held each October for the audio industry’s rental companies, as well as its sponsorship of and participation in backup events, including Golf-Fest and Kart-Fest.
“As well as being some of the most fun people in the industry, the team at DiGiCo are also some of the most generous,” says backup trustee, Lee Dennison. “Everyone involved in backup gives their time for free because they’re passionate about the work we do, but without the incredibly generous support of companies like DiGiCo, who donate both time and money, we wouldn’t be able to carry on doing what we do. We are incredibly grateful.”
Living and working together
Calrec is based at Nutclough Mill, an 18th Century textile mill in Hebden Bridge, a small mill town in the Calder Valley in West Yorkshire. As the town’s biggest employer it is important for Calrec to actively be part of its community.
Calrec staff have been on-hand to advise and volunteer on a number of community events over the years including open days during the town’s annual Arts Festival, inviting people in to see the building, take part in electronic workshops and provide an insight into what Calrec does.
And in 2017 Calrec hosted a new event as part of the Arts Festival (pictured). The project featured pictures and audio from Hebden residents, and over two nights a resultant film was projected onto the side of Nutclough Mill featuring local stories about living in such a town as Hebden – in particular when it rains. It rains a lot in Hebden Bridge.