Local Leeds social enterprise Phoenix Health and Wellbeing has been awarded one of the UK’s most prestigious business awards. The Charity has been recognised for its outstanding commitment to sustainable development.
Of the 205 organisations from across the UK that have been personally chosen by Her Majesty The Queen to receive an award, Phoenix Health and Wellbeing is just one of 17 in the Sustainable Development category.
Commenting on their remarkable success, Phoenix Health and Wellbeing’s founder Gill Trevor said: “We are absolutely over the moon, this is an incredible honour and it will have a hugely beneficial impact on our social enterprise.
“It has already given us all an enormous morale boost. Everyone at Phoenix is so dedicated and has worked incredibly hard over the past 12 months supporting our clients whose lives have been heavily impacted during the pandemic. It will also help raise awareness about the services we provide so that more people in Leeds will be able to get the health and wellbeing support they need regardless of their income.
“And, I really hope it will inspire other business owners to create social enterprises, there still aren’t enough of us about. I can thoroughly recommend it, there’s nothing quite like the positivity gained from running a successful socially sustainable business, it’s the best Karma there is!”
Based in Park Place, Leeds, Phoenix Health and Wellbeing is a registered charity that was set up in 2013 with the aim of providing wellbeing support to local people. Its staff, therapists and volunteers provide counselling, massage and acupuncture to people who have chronic health issues and low incomes. These people are referred to the service by medical and healthcare professionals.
This support is funded by providing the same services to the general public and workplace wellbeing services to local employers. The public and employers pay the market rate with proceeds going to the charitable fund.
In the last year, during the pandemic, demand for the service has been rising. Gill Trevor commented: “Over the last 12 months, despite the lockdowns, we have supported just under 400 individuals who were referred to us due to their emotional, mental or physical health issues. We couldn’t do this without the support of local businesses or the public and want to thank everyone who has supported us”.
“We are a charitable social enterprise,” Gill Trevor explains, “for every £10 someone spends with us £4 goes towards funding treatments for local people who couldn’t normally afford the support we can give them. We help people with depression and anxiety or physical conditions such as chronic pain, Parkinson’s disease and forms of cancer.”
Gill left a success career in marketing and business planning with O2 to retrain in wellbeing therapies after a family member became unwell. She completed a Diploma in massage, reflexology and aromatherapy, then in 2009 she went on to complete her Reiki levels 1, 2 and Masters.
After volunteering for several years at St Gemma’s Hospice and seeing first-hand the positive impact of complementary therapies, Gill gathered a team of highly experienced Trustees, counsellors and therapists and established Phoenix Health and Wellbeing.
“Over the years our organisation has gone from strength to strength and this Queen’s Award for Enterprise is real recognition of the hard work and commitment of everyone involved,” Gill Trevor concludes.
