The Give a Healthy Smile campaign was recently launched at the Carlton Road Academy in Boston, Lincolnshire, as part of the EOA’s 40^th Anniversary celebrations.

The campaign is aiming to raise £40,000 to fund toothbrushing programmes for 4000 children after NHS figures revealed tooth decay is the single largest reason children aged between five and nine are admitted to hospital.

Community Dental Services is an employee-owned social enterprise that operates for a social purpose. It does this by providing community dentistry services and delivering oral health improvement programmes, including supervised toothbrushing schemes in primary schools and early years settings, to help create a positive social impact in communities throughout the country.

Alison Reid, CEO, CDS-CiC said: 'As employee owners of a dental health social enterprise, we passionately believe that we have a responsibility to play our part in addressing the shocking levels of tooth decay in young children.

'The current situation leads to high levels of unnecessary hospital admissions and trauma for the children and their families, so there is a clear need for this to be addressed in our communities. We know that supervised toothbrushing programmes like this are an engaging, simple and effective way of supporting and positively impacting the lives of both parents and children, embedding good oral health habits that last a lifetime.

'When we won an award at the EOA Conference for the second year running, it only served to strengthen our collective ambition and drive to make sure we give back to the communities we serve and make a difference. We were delighted when the EOA chose to work alongside us to mark their 40th anniversary and launch the Give a Healthy Smile Appeal to help us combat the entirely preventable disease of tooth decay.'

Deb Oxley, chief executive of the Employee Ownership Association said: 'Community Dental Services is a shining example of the growing trend for social enterprises that have spun out from the public sector and are directly re-investing their profits back into the business to deliver greater benefits to regional communities.

'2019 is a pivotal year for the Employee Ownership Association as we celebrate our 40^th anniversary and the phenomenal achievements of our members such as Community Dental Services, who demonstrate that giving employees a voice and stake in how the business operates can help create stronger and happier regional economies and communities.'

There are over 350 employee-owned businesses in the UK that generate over £30 billion to the UK economy every year. The findings of a year-long national inquiry into employee-owned businesses and their impact on the UK economy were published last year in the Ownership Dividend Report. The report found that, in comparison to non-employee-owned businesses, employee-owned businesses are more productive, more resilient and have higher levels of staff engagement.

Businesses in the UK are being encouraged to donate and can do this as part of their corporate and social responsibility strategy. Donations can be made by visiting the crowdfunding campaign page at www.crowdfunder.co.uk/give-a-healthy-smile or via BACS by emailing healthy-smile@cds-cic.co.uk

[1] 26,111 children admitted to hospital due to dental disease 2017-18 NHS Digital’s Hospital Admitted Patient Care Activity: https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/hospital-admitted-patient-care-activity/2017-18