Record 220 organisations to take part in today’s City Giving Day
Melanie May | 26 September 2017 | News
City Giving Day takes place in London today, with 220 organisations taking part – the biggest total yet.
Led by Dr Andrew Parmley, the Lord Mayor of the City of London, City Giving Day celebrates the value of the City to society. It champions activities, such as CSR, philanthropy, and volunteering, that companies undertake as part of their commitment to supporting charity, society, the community and the environment in which they work, and also aims to encourages more people to take part.
The Lord Mayor will first welcome heads of City businesses to the London Stock Exchange to join him in opening the markets, officially starting City Giving Day. He will then take to the streets of the Square Mile, visiting participating firms and learning more about their individual projects. The Lord Mayor will also join in some of City Giving Day events being hosted, with a number of organisations inviting the Lord Mayor to accept a ‘challenge’ – from laying a brick at Sir Robert McAlpine to a game of Batak at M&G Investments.
The Lady Mayoress, the two Sheriffs and six Aldermen will visit over forty different firms from West End to Canary Wharf.
Activities throughout the day include a CIBC World Markets’ peddle bus which will tour the City for seven hours raising money for their three charity partners, Investec’s “Dragon’s Den” style event, during which they will give away seed funding to social impact initiatives and The Don’s Long Long Lunch.
The Lord Mayor said:
“The City has so much great community work going on but often we don’t shout loudly enough about all we do. Every year, City Giving Day has been getting bigger and better and 2017 is no different. I am thrilled that a record 220 companies are taking part, from Canary Wharf to the West End, each with their own unique projects happening from dawn until dusk supporting a fantastic range of important causes. I’m so pleased to see businesses across London making a real difference.”
Last year’s event saw 211 organisations take part, raising over £300,000 for more than 200 charities. 82% of the companies that took part thought it had helped to inspire more colleagues to fundraise, volunteer and become more involved in charitable activity.
This year, the Lord Mayor’s Appeal supports LSO Discovery, St Paul’s Music Outreach and Music in Hospitals.
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About Melanie May
Melanie May is a journalist and copywriter specialising in writing both for and about the charity and marketing services sectors since 2001. She can be reached via thepurplepim.com.