The Chickpea + Friends Fund

Ethan Davids is Managing Director of Chickpea Group, which owns a number of country pubs with rooms, and a standalone pizza shop in Wiltshire. He set up the Chickpea + Friends Fund with us as he wanted to change the way his business delivered its charitable giving. Ethan explains:

“Our business naturally has a strong connection to Wiltshire. Local people are our guests and they make up most of the people who work with us too. Each of our places is connected to the local community, so as a business it made sense to direct our charitable giving to the same place.

“We have always donated to local groups, causes, and charities in some way; but up until now it lacked focus. Working with Wiltshire Community Foundation gave us the opportunity to really sit down and think about the causes we would like our business to support.

“We were invited to a session they were running where they were talking to younger business owners to understand their views on philanthropy. It was during this that we learnt more about the Foundation, the work that they do and the services they can offer to businesses like ours.

“Wiltshire Community Foundation provides the ideal vehicle for us to really focus the support we can offer. They are so tapped into the needs across the county and so they can advise us where our giving is needed and where it can have the greatest impact. Because the Foundation works with such a broad range of groups and charities, there’s scope to explore the hard work that many organisations and projects are doing throughout Wiltshire; and also support more than one cause.

“The fact that they manage everything on our behalf and keep us up to date means that we know our giving is managed properly, and it also means our people feel engaged with what we’re doing. We feel connected to the causes we care about, and it’s nice to see where the money is going.

“This year, we’ve chosen to focus on rural child poverty; and welcoming refugees into the county. Most of our cash commitment comes from events we hold at each of our places, and we’re always thinking about ways we can in turn communicate the outcome of this to our guests – whose generous custom is undoubtedly the source.

“Through the Foundation we are not only making a difference to causes we care about but we are learning more about them too. We have been able to personally engage with one of the groups we have supported, and it’s been a real education to learn about their work, their challenges and what drives them to do what they do. It’s inspiring to see such amazing work going on on our doorstep and we wouldn’t have known about it without the Foundation.

 “Wiltshire Community Foundation is a wonderful organisation run by a wonderful group of people. As our business grows, we hope our contributions will too.”