HARMAN receives recognition for charitable endeavours

Pictured here from HARMAN are (left to right) Julie Peasgood, Jonathan Mangnall and Julie Costa.

HARMAN was recently acknowledged for its work as a strategic charity partner at the Sense Awards 2015. Held in London on Monday 7 December, the awards celebrated the achievements of deafblind people and those who support them.

The awards are sponsored by Sense, a national charity that has been supporting and campaigning for children and adults who are deafblind for the last 60 years. Television presenters Wendy Turner Webster and Julie Peasgood were on hand to recognise the company for raising £20,000 for a refurbished music room at TouchBase South East.

The Sense Awards recognise the inspiring achievements of people with sight and hearing impairments in areas such as creativity, partnerships and volunteering. They also recognise those who make a very real difference to their lives with awards for the Sense Person of the Year and Carer of the Year. Nominated in the Art Partnership category, the HARMAN-funded music suite is a state-of-the-art resource that offers the chance to create and record music in a fully equipped, sound-proofed recording room, and is home to the innovative music and theatrical workshops that take place at the TouchBase South East centre.

Jonathan Mangnall, vice-president of sales, HARMAN Enterprise EMEA, said: “We have been very proud supporters of Sense and its exceptional work for several years now. HARMAN employees across Europe have worked very hard to raise money for this worthy cause and I am proud to accept this commendation on their behalf.”

There are currently around 250,000 deafblind people in the UK. Sense provides specialist information, advice and services to deafblind people, their families, carers and the professionals who work with them. It runs services across England, Wales and Northern Ireland and employs 2,000 people, most of whom work in services directly with deafblind people.

“We are extremely grateful to HARMAN for all it has done this year,” said Sue Piper, head of corporate, Sense. “It is only with the support of companies like this that we are able to help people with sensory impairments to enjoy meaningful activities that promote the development of life skills and creative expression. This is worthy recognition of a considerable achievement!”