By Luke Barnett
Guest post
You may have seen in the dental press recently that we have become a Bridge2Aid Unity Partner. What does that mean I hear you ask? Around 70% of the world’s population has no access to emergency dental care. Just imagine being one of the many people around the world who have to endure the debilitating pain of toothache, not just for hours and days like the Western softies that we are, but for months and years.
Well I tried to imagine it and found it horrifying. Therefore, I decided that I had to do something about it. I am sure that many of you reading this are aware of the good work that Bridge2Aid do in East Africa by providing dental access on the ground. They do so by focussing on sustainability and empowering the local people so that they can improve their own lives for the long term. Very much from the ‘If you give a man a fish you feed him for a day, if you teach him to fish, you can feed him for a lifetime’ school of thought.
One of the key parts of becoming a Unity Partner is that we sponsor the training of a local healthcare worker – or Clinical Officers as they’re known. This Clinical Officer will then go on to work in their local community treating thousands of people who would otherwise have no access to dental care, providing vital relief from pain. A worthwhile cause.
However, I am not bringing this up to tell you how wonderful Luke Barnett and his team are (although if Bridge2Aid get some more support, then so much the better). I now take the view that those of us who are successful in our chosen fields have a duty to give something back. This is a quite accepted view in the USA but perhaps in the UK we have been reticent to put ourselves forward to help with charitable causes because either we don’t want to attract attention to ourselves, or perhaps we feel that the state has a duty to do this. Perhaps it does, but it isn’t going to happen anytime soon so we have to do something about it ourselves.
And let us not forget, that as well as massive benefits that we can deliver to the world and the people around us, giving something back is of benefit to us and our businesses too. How so?
- Mental wellbeing – I am not being flippant. The slightly selfish pleasure of knowing that we are doing something to help others is good for our mental (and possibly physical) health too.
- Team Building. I have to say that the team at Luke Barnett are delighted to with the Bridge 2 Aid project and it gives us something to concentrate on away from the daily work around the bench.
- Differentiation. It can be a tough world out there for all independent businesses at the moment. I feel that by supporting the Unity Partnership, we are offering another reason to do business with us aside from the excellent work that we deliver. Business is important but it isn’t everything. Having said that, I do feel we have a competitive advantage as a Unity Partner.
We should all take a step back and see where we can change lives. What cause you choose is up to you. I just feel that you should be doing something.
