17 charity partnerships benefitting good causes around the UK
Melanie May | 28 July 2021 | News
From fundraising through golf challenges and marathons to new charity of the year partnerships and donations of equipment, here are some of the ways companies around the UK are currently supporting charities.
Sheffield Hospitals Charity & Q-Park
Sheffield Hospitals Charity has announced a partnership with national car park operator, Q-Park. All customers need to do is enter the promo code ‘SHC10′ when pre-booking their parking at any Q-Park car park in Sheffield or across the UK & Ireland. That will then give each customer 10% off the total cost of their parking, and Q-Park will make a donation to Sheffield Hospitals Charity, with the money spent on services at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals.
Samaritans & Phoenix Group
Phoenix Group employee Tony Stevenson from Southampton has successfully run 24 marathons in a month to raise money for Samaritans, the company’s latest UK charity partner. Based at Phoenix’s ReAssure office in Southampton, Stevenson’s tremendous efforts raised over £2,000 for Samaritans and Phoenix are matching this amount, making the total £4,870. The marathons saw Stevenson run along several locations on the Thames towpath, Northampton & Gravesend.
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Macmillan & Metro Bank
Colleagues from Metro Bank’s Staines’ store have just completed a mammoth golf challenge to raise £2,600 for Macmillan Cancer Support. Staines Metro Bank store manager Chet Grewall, assistant store managers, Shaan Bangar, Thomas Armstrong and Tran Ruprah with local director, Adam Durrant spent 14.5 hours on windy and wet day, playing 72 holes during four rounds of golf to raise the funds through sponsorship at South Bucks Golf Course. Each member of the team walked over 24 miles in just one day – racking up 50,000 steps each. The event was held at South Buckinghamshire Golf Club which let the gentlemen play for free and even opened at 5.30am to give everyone the best sporting chance to complete the challenge – play eventually completed at 9pm.
Global’s Make Some Noise & Vodafone
Vodafone and Global have announced a six-month campaign to raise awareness of digital exclusion. The everyone.connected campaign aims to inspire the nation to get involved in helping those living without devices and connectivity. The campaign is also being backed by Global celebrity presenters, including Nick Ferrari, James O’Brien and Shelagh Fogarty (above). From donating pre-loved phones, tablets or laptops through the Vodafone Great British Tech Appeal, to making a cash donations with Global’s Make Some Noise charity, there will be a number of ways the nation can get involved to help connect the 1.5m households who are currently living without internet access.
Pennies & Poundland
Poundland and its fintech charity partner Pennies have won the Retail Systems’ Partnerships for Good Award 2021. The award, formerly known as Retail Charity Partnership of the Year, recognises a company that – working together with a charity – has delivered tangible impact in and for its communities through innovation. Poundland and Pennies’ partnership offers customers the chance to donate 25p on top of purchases on a basket size of £3 and above. Poundland also integrates Pennies across self-service kiosks as well as traditional in-store checkouts. To date, Poundland’s customers have donated over £200,000. All funds raised support The Poundland Foundation and its charity partners Make-A-Wish® UK, Tommy’s, Whizz-Kidz, and Pennies.
Centrepoint & Active Training World
Active Training World has announced a new partnership with Centrepoint as its official Charity Partner. The endurance events company offers events most weekends of the year, ranging from running to duathlons, swimming, cycling, sportive and triathlons. Under the partnership, Active Training World athletes can have a free place in return for fundraising from £150.
Macmillan & Malvern View holiday park
In a 12-hour long test of golfing endurance, Malvern View holiday park’s General Manager, Jon Hodgson, will be taking part in Macmillan Cancer Support’s Longest Day Challenge to raise £10,000 for the charity. To be played from sunrise to sunset on Thursday 22 July, this golfing feat will consist of 72 holes (four full games of golf), 25 miles of walking and 12 hours of swinging, chipping and putting, all in aid of raising money to support Macmillan’s work. Park Leisure, the owner of Malvern View, has donated £5,000 towards Jon’s £10,000 target. Other local companies sponsoring some of the 72 holes include the Hereford branch of Marsh Commercial and Ramtech Electronics.
Lamp & Macildowie
Midlands recruitment business Macildowie has selected Lamp (Leicestershire Action for Mental Health Project) as its charity of the year. The company will partner with Lamp to raise funds for the charity and raise awareness of the support available through Lamp for people with mental health issues requiring advocacy. Macildowie also runs regular LinkedIn workshops for clients and candidates, and will share this expertise to support Lamp’s services. One of the key events in Macildowie’s fundraising activity is an annual Family Fun Day, taking place on 6 August at Loughborough Rugby Club. The day will include a family-friendly BBQ, an ‘Auction of Promises’ with quality prizes donated by staff, and a choice of games, face painting, tombola and a live band.
St Giles Hospice & Five Spires Academy
Primary school pupils inspired by fundraising hero Captain Tom Moore have raised £3,295.15 for St Giles Hospice with a sponsored walk. After Captain Tom walked 100 laps around his garden before he turned 100, Five Spires Academy, in Lichfield, gave pupils an “11 before 11” challenge, encouraging them to complete 11 personal challenges before their 11th birthdays. One of their goals was to raise money for charity, so pupils walked 100 laps of their playground in aid of St Giles, which supports patients and their families who are living with a terminal illness. The pupils did their sponsored walk as part of ‘Miles 4 St Giles’ – a fundraising initiative set up in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, which encourages supporters to run, cycle or walk their own distance over 30 days to raise sponsorship for the hospice.
Greenwich and Bexley Community Hospice, Veolia, & Royal Borough of Greenwich
The Greenwich & Bexley Community Hospice, Royal Borough of Greenwich and Veolia UK have partnered on a project based in the council’s recycling centre in Thamesmead. RePurpose sees pre-owned items destined for recycling restored, repaired and repurposed so they can be sold to raise funds for the hospice. RePurpose items can be purchased via the Etsy and Ebay stores.
Rainbows & Cobra
Garden machinery specialist Cobra has donated a range of lawncare equipment to East Midlands based charity, Rainbows, to help with the maintenance of its grounds and outdoor spaces. Following a site visit by Cobra Machine Specialist Roger Lawson, it was determined that the MX5645PB 22 inch Briggs & Stratton powered lawn mower and the Kawasaki powered multi-tool MT270K kit, which includes a long reach hedge trimmer, pruner and brush cutter, would be most suitable for the Rainbows site and would provide the greatest benefit. The donation will make it easier for the charity to look after its grounds and outdoor spaces, helping to create a beautiful, restorative space for patients, visitors, and staff.
Breast Cancer Care & Cobra
Cobra has also renewed its support for Breast Cancer Now, continuing its partnership with the charity for a third year. It has raised £10,000 for the charity over the course of the partnership and hopes to raise more this year than ever before, with the machines now available at dealerships across the country. Money will continue to be raised through the sale of its limited-edition pink GTRM38P mower, with £25 from every purchase of the model going to Breast Cancer Now.
Hello World & Abrdn
abrdn, previously known as Standard Life Aberdeen, has donated £1m to Hello World, which provides digital education and internet connectivity where it is most needed. abrdn’s donation will considerably advance Hello World’s work, enabling it to expand its programme and build a further 64 solar-powered, internet-enabled education Hubs in Uganda.
Age UK Lambeth & Brixton Brewery
Brixton Brewery is hosting a four-day celebration in its taproom on Brixton Station Road with anyone bringing along a drinking buddy aged 60 or over able to get a free beer. In exchange for a can of its limited edition Generation Pale Ale, the brewery is asking that all attendees donate to Age UK Lambeth. The event takes place from Thursday 29 July to Sunday 1 August.
RNLI & Acorn Property Group
Working with the RNLI, as part of work on Acorn’s work in Cornwall’s Constantine Bay where it is developing new homes on the site of the old Treglos Hotel, the Acorn team and two further supporters have built a new and expanded ‘home’ for the RNLI Lifeguards and their equipment, and upgraded the Lifeguards Hut on the beach. Acorn Blue, part of Acorn Property Group, purchased the Treglos Hotel in Constantine for development and agreed that not only could the RNLI continue to use the site but with the help of two further doners, they would refurbish the building and create a larger storage space along with a garage store, that allowed sufficient space for storage of the inshore rescue boat (IRB) and all-terrain vehicle (ATV). The refurbishment works of the RNLI Lifeguard facilities at Constantine Bay Beach were undertaken in the winter and have already been put to good use since the lifeguards began their 2021 patrols in April and will patrol the beach until the end of September.
Lamp & Just Hype
Leicester-based Just Hype has donated 10% of its overall weekly sales from Mental Health Awareness Week (10-16 May 2021) to Lamp (Leicestershire Action for Mental Health Project). It has also just joined the charity’s Business Club, which is aimed at bringing influential leaders within corporate organisations together to share best practice, identify needs-based gaps in mental health within the workplace and make a difference with a collective voice.
Amble Youth Project & Park Leisure
Park Leisure, owner of the Amble Links Coastal Holiday park, has made a £5,000 donation to the Amble Youth Project alongside a pledge of further long-term support for the charity. This summer, Amble Links is launching a photography competition in partnership with the charity to encourage young people to experiment with different camera equipment and capture the best of the scenery surrounding Amble. The charity has used some of the donation from Amble Links to invest in a GoPro, a high-end bridge camera, a point and shoot camera and an Instant Print polaroid camera. These are all available for charity members to use to experiment with their photography skills. The holiday park is donating prizes for the competition, and is also supporting a local football team, Amble Links FC, by sponsoring its kits.
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.