Campaign urges businesses to be #XmasPartyHeroes & donate unused budget to charity
Melanie May | 9 November 2020 | News
A campaign encouraging businesses to donate the money they would have spent on their Christmas parties has already raised £500,000 in its first week.
With Covid-19 causing most businesses to cancel this year’s Christmas parties, Xmas Party Heroes encourages companies to donate any unused funds to a charity of their choice.
Mark Hawthorn, CEO of investor Landmark Group came up with idea, and a number of companies have already pledged money to charities through the campaign, including Timpson, Property Alliance Group, Urban Splash, FK Group and Barratt Developments, while charities are also promoting it to their partners.
It is entirely up to the organisation to decide which charity to donate to, and all donations go directly from the donor to the charity of choice. Xmas Party Heroes is simply keeping a tally of pledges and providing shareable content on its site for businesses and charities to use in promoting the campaign.
Hawthorn said:
“There will be lots of unspent Christmas party budgets this year and this campaign offers a really simple and effective solution that many businesses may not have considered.
“I only had the idea a week ago and after making a few calls to sound it out, I’ve been inundated with people wanting to get onboard. The reaction so far shows there is the potential to raise tens of millions of pounds for charity.
“With the help of my team, we’ve launched a Xmas Party Heroes website to support the campaign and keep the momentum going. All we ask is that businesses let us know how much they have donated so we can keep a running total and help make a massive difference to those who need it the most.”
Victoria Russell, Director at Property Alliance Group added:
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“Charities need support more than ever in 2020 and Xmas Party Heroes is a great way to raise a significant amount of money and awareness.
“The Covid 19 pandemic has hit disadvantaged communities the hardest, with increasing numbers of children and young people that would not have previously been identified as vulnerable, now moving into thresholds of higher need. Unemployment is increasing, loneliness, food poverty, issues relating to emotional health and wellbeing are all on the rise, which create additional demand and pressure on public services. It’s great to see so many businesses getting behind this idea and helping to raise much needed funds.”
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.