Corporate partnerships round-up: 14 ways companies are supporting good causes

Melanie May | 27 May 2020 | News

From bread donations to selfie challenges, here are 14 companies supporting a range of charities throughout the UK.

Thank you @hovisbakery for your support. Your food donations will help us to continue to get good food to some of the most vulnerable people in our communities. #ThankYou #FoodHeroes https://t.co/bSEQHJTZTk

— FareShare (@FareShareUK) May 26, 2020

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Hovis & FareShare

Hovis donated just under 30,000 loaves of bread in April alone to FareShare to help keep Britain fed and reduce food waste during the Covid-19 crisis. Hovis, which has been supporting FareShare since 2017, has increased the number of loaves it donates in order to meet a surge in demand from FareShare for more bread. In April alone Hovis donated just under 30,000 loaves of bread to FareShare which supports over 11,000 charities across the UK. By 21 May, the number of loaves donated via FareShare had already reached 19,952. Hovis has also increased the number of its sites donating bread to FareShare. The Hovis scheme started at its Nottingham bakery in 2017 and in recent months has been increased to cover a further five bakeries, geographically ranging from London to Glasgow.

British Gymnastics & NHS Charities Together

British Gymnastics has announced a fundraising initiative to support NHS Charities Together. British Gymnastics, in partnership with its affiliated home nations, is calling on the sporting community and beyond to #PresentForPounds. A ‘present’ is the move performed at the beginning and end of a gymnastics routine to show that you are ready for action or to celebrate nailing your routine. The campaign challenges people to post a video or photo of themselves ‘presenting’ online as a salute to the NHS, using the #PresentForPounds tag. Those involved are then encouraged to donate to NHS Charities Together before nominating five friends to do the same.

Huggg & British Red Cross

A shopping ordering and delivery solution is being rolled out by UK-based microgifting platform, Huggg, along with the British Red Cross. The Huggg shopping ordering and delivery solution enables British Red Cross volunteers to fetch food and supplies for those who can’t rely on family or friends for assistance. The family member, friend or individual can buy a digital supermarket voucher and fill out a shopping list online. An alert will then be sent to The British Red Cross volunteer network to accept the call-out, do the shopping and deliver it to the person in a socially distanced, secure and cashless way, in line with government guidelines. Any money left on the voucher is returned to the person to use at a later date. Huggg does not charge fees to the user or the charity.

Premier Foods & Together for Short Lives

Premier Foods has chosen Together for Short Lives as its new charity partner. To celebrate the start of the partnership, Premier Foods put together care hampers that were delivered to children’s hospices up and down the country, filled with Premier Foods cupboard essentials and treats to support hospice care workers and families during the COVID-19 pandemic Aiming to raise £200,000 over the course of a two year partnership, each Premier Foods site will be twinned with their local children’s hospice, so the funds they raise will support children and families in the communities where they live and work.

MAXIMUS Foundation & The People’s Kitchen

The MAXIMUS Foundation UK has announced a record £50,000 in donations to help charities during the Covid-19 outbreak. The Foundation’s latest round of fundraising provides grants to twenty UK charities. The charities were nominated by MAXIMUS colleagues, and include organisations that deliver services to support healthcare workers, children, jobseekers and homeless people, such as The People’s Kitchen, a Newcastle-based charity supporting homeless and vulnerable people. Since its formation in 2015, the Foundation has donated £320,000 to UK charities. Funding for the foundation is generated by MAXIMUS colleagues and match-funded by MAXIMUS UK.

This #GivingTuesdayNow, we would like to say a huge thank you to @VirginMoney for their generous donation of £50,000 towards Mencap’s urgent #Coronavirus appeal. The funds will help us support the 1.5 million people with a #LearningDisability who need our help more than ever. ❤️ pic.twitter.com/Owz5xIY2td

— Mencap (@mencap_charity) May 5, 2020

Virgin Money & Mencap

Virgin Money has donated £50,000 in response to Mencap’s coronavirus appeal. The donation is helping the charity provide support to people with a learning disability during the crisis. Mencap is Virgin Money’s Charity of the Year, and since the start of the partnership, which launched during Learning Disability Week in June 2019, Virgin Money has raised over £308,000, with colleagues taking part in bake sales, challenge events and organising their own fundraisers to provide funds for ‘All Move’, the charity’s sport and inclusion programme for young people with a learning disability. As Virgin Money’s Charity of the Year, Mencap is also the official charity for the 2020 Virgin Money London Marathon. Over 120 Virgin Money colleagues will be running this year’s marathon for Mencap and Virgin Money has extended its partnership with Mencap until 4 October 2020, the new race date.

Peninsula Group & Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital Charity

Global employment law consultancy Peninsula Group has promised to double its £1 million charity pledge to Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital Charity, now committing to raise £2 million for the charity. Peninsula announced its original commitment of £1 million twelve months ago but in the light of recent events around Covid-19, which has made the work of the hospital more challenging than ever as well as impacting on charitable donations, Peninsula has decided to double its pledge to £2 million.

Kwik Fit & Children with Cancer UK

Kwik Fit has raised £1million for its first selected charity of the year, Children with Cancer UK. The charity was chosen following a vote open to more than 5,000 Kwik Fit employees across the UK last year. During the year-long partnership, Kwik Fit staff participated in events such as the Virgin Money London Marathon and the Simplyhealth Great North Run, as well as organising various fundraising activities including bake sales, static bike challenges, car washes, sponsored walks and the company’s first ever Tour De Branch – a bike ride covering 2,500 miles and connecting 120 Kwik Fit centres.

Corptel & charities

Corptel has donated £30,000 to support a dozen national, regional and local charities during the coronavirus crisis. Bosses, including MD Paul Baxter (pictured) at Manchester-based Corptel said they wanted to support the work of a number of charities after the company experienced “unprecedented high demand” from individuals and businesses needing equipment to enable them to work from home. Corptel has made donations to the following charities – Samaritans, Age UK, Coeliac UK, Marie Curie, Albert Kennedy Trust, GeeWizz, St Elizabeth Hospice, Manchester Youth Zone, Wigan & Leigh Hospice, Springhill Hospice, St Ann’s Hospice and Dr Kershaw’s Hospice. Last year, the company donated £25,000 to several charities in memory of company founder Tony Molloy who died in April 2019.

Klarna & ICRC

Global payments and shopping provider Klarna supported the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)’s response to Covid-19, by donating £1, $1 or €1 for every Klarna transaction placed at ASOS globally on 29 April. The dedicated “Giveback Day” took place internationally. Money raised for the ICRC has gone towards activities such as sanitation to prevent the spread of the disease, support for health infrastructure such as hospitals, and towards ensuring access to clean water for communities.

Principality Building Society & Alzheimer’s Society Cymru & Teenage Cancer Trust Cymru

Principality Building Society has donated £60,000 to its charity partners, the Alzheimer’s Society Cymru and the Teenage Cancer Trust Cymru. The donation is split equally between both charities. The funding will help Alzheimer’s Society provide increased support to people living with dementia and isolating through its Dementia Connect service, as well as supporting Teenage Cancer Trust, who provide specialist nursing care and emotional support for young people with cancer at its dedicated unit at the University Hospital of Wales. The Society’s three year partnership with the Teenage Cancer Trust and Alzheimer’s Society Cymru started in January 2019. Since then, Principality has fundraised over £240,000 for its charity partners, with colleagues taking part in a variety of fundraising challenges and events to raise funds.

British Airways Maintenance Glasgow & CHAS

Team members from British Airways Maintenance Glasgow (BAMG) have reached the £30,000 fundraising mark for CHAS. For the last two decades the group, based at Glasgow International Airport, have held an annual raffle for Scotland’s only children’s hospice charity with their most recent endeavour raising £2,324.

🚨CALLING ON EVERYONE🚨

We’re extending the Sweat For Your NHS deadline to 8pm BST April 30th, as we’ve set an ambitious target of £175,000 to raise for our invaluable NHS.

So, keep posting your post-workout selfies with #NHSSweatySelfie & we’ll donate £5 for each & every one! pic.twitter.com/WEr9iRi8YW

— Gymshark (@Gymshark) April 23, 2020

Gymshark & Birmingham Women’s and Children’s Hospital Charity

Gymshark has raised over £180,000 for Birmingham Women’s and Children’s Hospital Charity through its Sweaty Selfie initiative. Gymshark challenged its community to use the hour of exercise allowed in lockdown to work up a sweat, then upload their ‘sweaty selfie’ to social media with the hashtag #NHSSweatySelfie. For every selfie uploaded Gymshark donated £5 per person to Birmingham Women’s and Children’s Hospital Charity, which participants could also voluntarily match via a JustGiving page.

James Grace Associates & Alex’s Wish

Leicestershire-based recruitment company James Grace Associates has chosen local charity Alex’s Wish as its charity of the year. Mike Stinson, Founder and Director of James Grace Associates has personally known and supported Alex’s Wish for many years but wanted to do more so invited Alex’s Wish to come in and meet the team so they could learn all about the charity and its mission to find a cure for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. The company has now come up with a plan to set up an annual fundraising target of £5,000 that they will look to achieve through a series of activities throughout the year.

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.

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