Access Group raises £281k for its charity of the year DEBRA
Howard Lake | 1 August 2019 | News
Staff at Access Group have beaten their target and raised 281,488 for the company’s charity of the year, DEBRA.
The charity that supports those living with genetic skin condition Epidermolysis Bullosa (EB), was voted for by Access staff to become the company’s charity of the year. The vote was particularly meaningful to many staff who had learned that a colleague had lost their son to EB.
Together staff raised £140,744, which The Access Group then matched to bring the company’s total donation for DEBRA to £281,488.
The company provides business software to mid-sized UK organisations, and has many charity clients.
Jenny Jackson, Business Development Manager of DEBRA, said:
“To see how a company have got behind an employee to turn a tragedy into hope for the future and to enable DEBRA to support other EB sufferers is incredibly inspiring and humbling. The monies that Access have raised will make a difference long into the future and we cannot thank everyone enough for all they have done this year.”
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Fundraising and volunteering support
Chris Bayne, CEO of Access, explains the value to staff members in taking part in fundraising.
Fundraising activities took place both nationally and in local offices. They included:
- two Access staff members running in the London Marathon
- 49 team members taking on Tough Mudder races
- a team of five Access staff taking part in a ‘Steel Day’ that saw some complete seven 45-minute workouts in a single day.
Access Group volunteers helped the DEBRA team to host their 14th annual DEBRA Fight Night, which took place at the Park Lane Hilton Hotel, by selling raffle tickets and spotting bidders in the auction.
Also, two teams of The Access Group’s Board members went head to head in a retail challenge, seeing which team could raise the most money in one day working at one of the DEBRA charity shops. The competition between the teams saw a total raised of £4,088.54.
Chris Bayne, CEO of Access, commented:
“I am incredibly proud of our fundraising activities for DEBRA this year. It is heartening to see the extraordinary efforts our staff have made to raise funds and awareness for a charity that has such a personal connection within our Access family. At Access, everyone can make a difference, and that is evidenced in the tremendous overachievement with regards to our fundraising goal.
“We are passionate about giving back, from electing a company Charity of the Year, raising money in many different ways, to having a paid day to help a charity or good cause, everyone has the chance to give back to what’s important to them.”
Main image: Access Group staff complete the Tough Mudder for DEBRA, by Epic Action Imagery
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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.