Since early March Roys customers have been making donations in store to help the Disasters Emergency Committee's Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal. The collection campaign raised over £4,700 in less than two weeks, over £9,000 by the end of March, and with subsequent payments in April, May & July the total raised by Roys customers has reached £14,141.92. The Disaster Emergency Committee has seen a huge amount of support and so far the total they have raise is over £350 million, £25 million of which was from UK aid match from the UK Government.

The Disaster Emergency Committee is made up of 15 leading UK aid charities to raise funds quickly and efficiently at times of crisis overseas. By pooling their resources they're able to co-ordinate the UK public's response to help make sure the money goes where it's needed.

Since the conflict began over 18 million people have been effected. 13 million people (over 1/4 of the population of Ukraine) have fled their homes, many of which with only the items they could carry. The donations our customers have made will have helped to provide food, water, shelter, healthcare and protection to these people.

What can the money help provide?

• £30 could provide essential hygiene supplies for three people for one month
• £50 could provide blankets for four families
• £100 could provide emergency food for two families for one month

After a break of many decades Roys (Wroxham) Ltd and Barnwell Print Ltd are rekindling their relationship to work together. Roys flagship store based in Hoveton and Barnwell Print Ltd based in Aylsham can trace their initial correspondence and working relationship back to 1924.

Alfred and Arnold Roy founded Roys in 1895 when they opened their first store in Coltishall. Soon after the success of the first store they chose Dereham and Hoveton to expand the business. By 1924 Roys was thriving with a fleet of former Royal Mail Trojan vans used for deliveries and opening a new bakery in Coltishall.

Barnwell Print was established in 1840 with the family relocating from Hull to Norfolk in 1908. Frederick Charles Barnwell (1888-1968) and Arnold Roy initiated a business relationship, with orders of prints being traced back to 1924. Arnold would note down what he would like the poster, order form or leaflet to say with a rough layout and Frederick would set to work to produce a top-quality print for the stores. Arnold and Frederick became friends and would enjoy sailing on the Broads together.

The pair worked together well into the late 1930’s and it is unknown when this ended, it may have been during the tumultuous time of the second world war where a lot of changes were brought to Roys.

Barnwell Print Ltd continued to work through the decades with an expansion in the 1970’s and fighting through adversity when a fire damaged the premises in 1982. Today Barnwell’s is the oldest family run printing business in the UK. With fourth generation Julian and Lincoln as owners and Directors, driving the business to have the best environmental ethics they can. With recent continued investment to replace two older diesel vehicles with two new Electric Vehicles.

Julian and Lincoln’s love of diving and passion for nature and the planet has led to global warming and CO2 emissions being at the forefront of their minds when considering how the business operates which is why in 2012 they became Norfolk’s first certified carbon balanced publication printer. Carbon balancing is delivered by The World Land Trust who offset emissions through the preservation of forests which are both threatened, and considered to be of very high conservation importance. The benefits are much wider than just carbon reduction, protecting local flora and fauna.

Through this scheme Barnwell will work with Roys to offset all unavoidable production carbon emissions on their printed products, including the paper which is sourced from managed and sustainable forests specifically produced for the printing industry.

We are very excited to be working with Roy’s once again, who are such a well-known forward thinking local family business. As a business we try to bring more to the table than just high-quality printing and believe our tried and tested carbon balancing service is a good opportunity to make a difference to the environment for the future generations.Julian BarnwellDirector, Barnwell Print

Roys is over the moon to be working with Barnwell Print once again. We are extremely proud of our heritage and it is exciting to be working with a company that Arnold Roy himself worked with all those years ago. Not only do we have this historical connection but the environmental ethics that the company has are very close to our heart too. Roys are continuously looking at ways to limit their carbon footprint and how to lessen their impact on the Earth. By using Barnwell Print for our February housewares leaflet we have managed to offset 1001 kilos of carbon and preserve 191sqm of critically threatened tropical rain forest. We are looking forward to future projects with the Barnwell team.Jo SymondsRoys Marketing Manager

More information about how brothers Alfred & Arnold founded Roys can be found on our history page.