Prostate Cancer UK chosen as Royal Mail's charity of the year
Howard Lake | 25 June 2012 | News
Royal Mail has chosen Prostate Cancer UK as its charity of the year, with the partnership to run from 2012 to mid-2014.
More than 36,000 employees (45% of the workforce) chose the charity, recently rebranded from the Prostate Cancer Charity, in a staff vote.
Royal Mail aims to raise at least £2 million over two years for the charity. Employees will raise the funds through a series of fundraising initiatives and events, with an initial target of £1 million. Their efforts will then be match funded by Royal Mail, the first time the organisation has taken this approach.
Owen Sharp, Chief Executive of Prostate Cancer UK, said: “The fact that Royal Mail employees voted for us shows how much men’s health, and prostate cancer in particular, is an issue that just can’t be ignored any more. This partnership will make a real and tangible difference to the quarter of a million men living with this disease. As well as ensuring more men build a relationship with a specialist nurse – which they tell us is invaluable – it will help us get the message out to thousands of Royal Mail employees. We thank all of the Royal Mail staff who voted for us.”
Employees voted for their charity of choice from a shortlist of three through Royal Mail’s annual Employee Opinion Survey. The company has decided to donate £50,000 to each of the two other charities that reached the final shortlist – Alzheimer’s Society and Whizz-Kidz.
Any additional funds raised beyond the £2 million total will be matched, penny for penny, by Royal Mail up to £1 million in total. Funds can be raised for Alzheimer’s Society, Prostate Cancer UK or Whizz-Kidz.
www.prostatecanceruk.org
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.