Two rural communities in Zambia are the latest to benefit from funds raised by BDRC Continental’s VenueVerdict survey. The donation of £2,772 willprovide much-needed training and skills for young adults currently struggling to make a living through farming.

This is the latest quarterly donation from BDRC Continental’s dedicated Hotels, Meetings and Hospitality team, who donate 50p for every completed response to its VenueVerdict survey to the meetings industry charity,Meetings Industry Meeting Needs (MIMN). VenueVerdict is a widely recognised customer feedback benchmarking programme in the UK hospitality industry, and has donated a staggering £23,114.50 since it began in 2006.

BDRC Continental’s latest donation goes to Tools for Self Reliance, a project that aims to alleviate poverty and promote economic empowerment by encouraging long-term and sustainable livelihoods for young people in Zambia.This donation will help provide 10 young adults with tailoring skills, 10 with carpentry skills and a further 10 with construction skills. All 30 locals will also receive basic business training, and the project has the long-term goal of increasinghousehold income and making a positive contribution to the local economy.

Charles Blowfield, Honorary Treasurer at MIMN, praises this grant, commenting that VenueVerdict’s “regular donations genuinely make a hugely positive impact to the worthy causes that we support. We are most gratefulto BDRC Continental for this initiative.” James Bland, Senior Client Services Manager at BDRC Continental adds: “As the conference and events industry charity, MIMN was a natural choice for us. We are committed to our relationship with MIMNand we love to hear how our regular donations make such a significant impact on the organisations with which the charity works.”