Central Co-op seeks news charity partner – plus more corporate partnership news
Melanie May | 22 March 2024 | News
A round up of partnership news – from fundraising done, to fundraising planned, and new partners sought.
Gallagher donates £25,000 to Kent based charity Dandelion Time
Insurance broker Gallagher has donated £25,000 to Dandelion Time, a Kent-based charity that gives support to children who have suffered from traumatic experiences such as domestic abuse and neglect.
The charity was nominated by Sarah Millan, Senior Business Analyst in Gallagher’s West Malling office. Each year, Gallagher gives colleagues the opportunity to support charities that are close to their hearts as part of its Making a Difference initiative. Alongside Dandelion Time, Gallagher has donated a further £20,000 to four other small charities based in the UK including Firefly Cancer Awareness & Support, The Phoenix Stroke Club, The Smallest Things and SUDEP action.
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The Co-operative Bank partners with ITV to sponsor 2024 televised Sport Gives Back Awards
The Sport Gives Back Awards took place in February at Cadogan Hall, London. Winners were nominated by their respective charities to thank them for their work in their communities. The Awards will be aired on ITV1 and ITVX at 10.15pm on Sunday 24 March and will be available to stream on ITVX for a month.
As well as supporting the broadcast of the Sport Gives Back Awards, The Co-operative Bank has committed to donating up to £20,000 from its Customer Donation Fund to existing Community Directplus customers who make a difference to their local community through sport.
Central Co-op seeks new charity partner
Central Co-op is opening the floor to all registered charities, both on a national and local level, to nominate themselves. To kickstart the selection process, Central Co-op has created an online survey for charities to fill out. The information gathered will be used to create a shortlist of potential charity partners.
The survey launched on Monday 11 March and will run for four weeks, until 8 April. Once concluded, Central Co-op Members will have the opportunity to review the shortlisted charities and vote for their preferred choice. The announcement follows a seven-year partnership with Dementia UK. During this time, Central Co-op and its Members have raised around £2.5 million pounds for the charity.
Macmillan & Lovehoney partner on campaign around sex & cancer
Macmillan Cancer Support has announced a partnership with sexual wellness brand, Lovehoney, as part of a new campaign to break down the taboos around sex and cancer, while raising awareness of the support available.
The partnership – a first of its kind for both – aims to reinforce the fact that everyone is entitled to support around sexual wellbeing and happiness, encouraging more people to have an open conversation about intimacy following a cancer diagnosis. Macmillan and Lovehoney will shine a light on the impact cancer can have on a person’s sexual wellbeing through a new content series launching on YouTube. The series will feature people from across the UK sharing their experiences with sex and intimacy following a cancer diagnosis. As part of the partnership, the sexual wellness brand will also be donating 10% of sales on selected products to Macmillan during the campaign (March 14 – August 5 2024).
London Marathon Events & SATCoL partner to collect discarded event participant clothing
London Marathon Events (LME) is to work with the Salvation Army Trading Company, (SATCoL) the trading arm of The Salvation Army, to collect discarded participant clothing at its events. Salvation Army volunteers will staff collection points at the Start for the major mass participation events to collect clothing discarded by participants prior to the Start line. The clothing will be taken to The Salvation Army processing centre in the East Midlands for sorting and distribution to be resold, reused or recycled.
The scheme is one of LME’s new sustainability initiatives for 2024 aimed at reducing the environmental impact of its events, with a particular focus on lowering carbon emissions, cutting waste and improving circularity. The Salvation Army volunteers will be collecting discarded clothing at the following events this year: Brighton Marathon on 7 April; TCS London Marathon on 21 April; Ford RideLondon on Sunday 26 May; The Big Half on 1 September; The Vitality London 10,000 on 22 September; and The Royal Parks Half on 13 October.
Village Hotel club announces official 2024 charity partners
As part of its Village Green sustainability programme, Village Hotel Swansea has announced its charity partners for 2024: Sense, Sue Ryder, and Carefree. Village’s formal partnership with Sense follows fundraising efforts last year including a collection of second-hand clothing to sell in Sense charity shops, raising nearly £2,000 and a ‘Spin-a-thon’, which also raised over £2,000. As part of the partnership, as well as fundraising events, Village team members will embark on a year-long programme of activities and workshops to improve accessibility and upskill their customer service offer. Sense will also support Village on the development of its Accessibility Policy and its commitment to becoming a Disability Confident employer.
Village’s partnership with Sue Ryder sees the launch of Grief Kind Spaces. When a hotel has been selected to be a Grief Kind Space it will provide a meeting space every week for a couple of hours so that Sue Ryder can provide giving who are grieving access to informal, in person, peers-to-peer support. Finally, Village Hotels is partnering with Carefree, which transforms vacant accommodation into breaks for unpaid carers. Village will provide free respite breaks for carers across the UK, following a commitment in 2023., which saw Village donate 984 room nights to carers, worth over £105,000.
Hotel redevelopment sees furniture donated to Scottish charity
The recent redevelopment of the former Holyrood Hotel to the new Edinburgh Marriott Hotel Holyrood has resulted in the property donating more than £11,000 worth of quality furniture, from armchairs and artwork to televisions and desks to Edinburgh-based charity Scottish Veterans Residences (SVR), following the completion of an extensive refurbishment.
The charity – a registered housing support service based at Whitefoord House, within the City’s UNESCO site in the Old Town – provides supported housing for former members of the UK Armed Forces and their services are available to anyone who has served in HM Forces, Reserve Forces or Merchant Marine, regardless of age or length of service, who are homeless or at risk of homelessness.
Peninsula Group announces three-year, three-charity partnership
Manchester-based global employment law and HR consultancy, Peninsula Group, has announced a new three-year, £3 million charity partnership. The chosen charities are DEBRA UK, Air Ambulances UK, and Together for Short Lives.
Peninsula Group will raise £1mn for each charity over the next three years, for a total minimum commitment of £3mn. To raise this target, employees will take part in multiple fundraising activities throughout the partnership, starting with the London Marathon in April. The company will also be enabling employees to sign up for payroll giving. All fundraising activities and payroll deductions will be matched pound for pound in corporate donations.
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.