The Printing Charity resumed its nearly 200-year tradition of lunches on 24 November, with an update on the charity’s work from chairman Jon Wright and an address by current president George Osborne, former Chancellor of the Exchequer and editor of the Evening Standard.
Held at the recently refurbished Stationers’ Hall in the City of London, the 193rd Printing Charity lunch was the first such gathering with supporters for three years, a period that Mr Wright said has been one of ‘intense refocus’, commenting that ‘adversity breeds resolve, and we have emerged even stronger’.
He reported that the 24/7 helpline launched in 2019 and expanded in 2020 in the face of the pandemic is now available to over 200 companies and potentially reaching 20,000 employees, to provide both practical and emotional support, while the Charity’s sheltered accommodation is housing some 80 retired people across two sites. This year’s Rising Stars Awards saw 52 winners and it is hoped that next year’s programme will see a return to numbers in three figures.
Mr Wright also noted that ‘we don’t always know who needs help’ and that the Charity would like to hear from anyone in the industry who does, whether from companies or individuals.
Mr Osborne quoted the then Duke of York (later King George V) on the importance of print as the linchpin of civilisation, with printers having conferred ‘incalculable benefits’ and contrasted the difference in roles between politician and editor, concluding that the world is ‘full of ideas and opportunities’.
