Gift A Shift to mark the Royal Wedding, and other occasions
Howard Lake | 12 January 2011 | News
Bus driver Derek Brash is urging charities to take up his ‘GiftaShift’ idea and encourage their supporters to donate the value of one day’s work or a work shift to charity.
In particular, he is focusing on the upcoming Bank Holiday on 29 April when the nation is being given a day off work to celebrate the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton. Since the Bank Holiday is a bonus this year, Brash hopes many people will choose to donate the value of this to charity.
But the idea could be applied to other dates and events, so he is hoping the idea will catch on. “GIFTASHIFT once a year, once a lifetime or as often as you can”, suggests Brash.
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His initiative is timely given the Royal Wedding but, as he acknowledges, “it’s not a new concept”. The idea has cropped up before. For example, in the run-up to the year 2000, Marks & Spencer announced its Millennium Initiative whereby its staff were encouraged to donate the value of their last hour’s work in 1999 to charity.
GiftaShift is neither a business nor a charity. Brash simply wants individuals and charities to try out the idea.
www.giftashift.com
- John Lewis Partnership offers secondments to charities for up to six months (24 January 2011)
- Five hundred to work for local charities through Vodafone World of Difference (9 February 2011)
- A letter to Trustee Boards about getting the most out of staff and volunteers (16 March 2011)
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.