Staff at Newport-based recruitment and workforce management firm Smart Solutions have helped raise £21,000 for the NSPCC’s work to end child abuse in the UK.

Smart Solutions staff in Wales, and across the UK, have spent the past 18 months organising a variety of fundraising activities for the charity, to eclipse the fundraising goal set by the company’s chief executive, Nathan Bowles.

Activities ranged from bake-off days and Easter bonnet competitions to half marathons and obstacle course challenges. Arguably the most gruelling fundraising effort saw 16 Smart Solutions employees complete Yorkshire’s ‘Three Peaks’ challenge – Pen-y-Ghent, Whernside and Ingleborough - a 24-mile hike that includes a 5,200ft ascent.

Mr Bowles said: “As a business, we are committed to playing our part in supporting charities that directly benefit the communities we work for and within. NSPCC absolutely fits that bill. It’s the UK’s leading children's charity, fighting to end child abuse and helping children who have been abused or neglected to recover.

"We set an ambitious target of £21,000 in the hope that sum would support the services that children turn to every day for help.

“I knew we could achieve our target – we set the same fundraising goal for Bobath Children’s Therapy Centre in 2016 and achieved it - but it has been so wonderful to see Smart Solutions staff, once again, step up to the mark for a cause they believe in. It has been their innovative ideas, personal drive and generosity that have ensured we reached our target.”

Alan Peterson, chairman of the NSPCC’s Wales appeal board, said: “We are grateful for the fantastic efforts of Smart Solutions and its staff in support of the NSPCC.

“Money raised will help the NSPCC continue its work to fight for every childhood in Wales, supporting vital services and campaigns which help keep children safe from abuse.

“They should be very proud of raising this wonderful total and we congratulate all of them.”

Smart Solutions, which has a flexible workforce of more than 5,500 people and has its headquarters in Langstone, now operates from more than 50 locations across the UK, from Hull to Carmarthen and Glasgow to Hastings. Services are delivered from regional offices and on site at clients’ premises.

The firm works for clients in a range of sectors, including manufacturing, waste and recycling, logistics, the automotive industry and the pharmaceutical sector. In May 2017, Smart Solutions was included in the London Stock Exchange Group’s ‘1,000 Companies to Inspire Britain’ listing.