Corporate and charity fundraising partnerships as 2025 ends and 2026 begins

Howard Lake | 6 January 2026 | News

Corporate partnerships in at the turn of the year included the target-beating Buzz Bingo and The Stroke Association, ICAP’s celebrity-packed annual global Charity Day supporting 20 charities in the UK, Invesco hitting its target for Rainbow Trust Children’s Charity, and Kia UK’s new partnership with The Children’s Society.

Buzz Bingo and The Stroke Association

Buzz Bingo’s three-year charity partnership with the Stroke Association has raised £300,000, exceeding its original target of £200,000.

Launched in 2022 by Chris Tarrant at a music-bingo themed event in Stratford, the partnership aimed to help tackle the social isolation experienced following stroke.

Buzz Bingo clubs have helped raise funds through charity bingo games, local fundraising events and other creative initiatives. Highlights include:

• £170,000 raised through official charity games.
• £50,868 from collection tins in clubs.
• £15,000 from dabber sales.
• £20,735 from local events.
• £75,000 from Buzz Bingo sponsorship.

In addition to fundraising Buzz Bingo clubs also hosted local stroke support groups, providing a welcoming and accessible space for people affected by stroke to socialise and connect with their communities.

The partnership concluded with a charity bingo game to mark World Stroke Day 2025, where the money raised took Buzz Bingo over the £300,000 total.

ICAP’s global Charity Day raises £5.7 million

December’s 33rd annual global ICAP Charity Day has raised £5.7 million for charities.

Celebrity supporters of the charities, including Stormzy, Keanu Reeves, Dame Emma Thompson, Orlando Bloom, Colin Farrell, Emma Bunton and John Terry joined in ICAP Charity Day in London and New York on Thursday 11 December.

The global event took place across every ICAP office worldwide, with 100% of ICAP’s revenues and its brokers’ commissions donated directly to a select group of charitable causes.

Since the fundraising initiative began in 1993 it has raised more than £170 million to date, which has been donated to more than 3,100 charitable causes around the world, directly supporting more
than 7.7 million people.

In the UK, 20 charitable organisations are benefiting this year.

Dame Joan Collins, DBE joined in on behalf of Shooting Star Children’s Hospices; Dame Emma Thompson, DBE represented Helen Bamber Foundation; Ray Winstone supported Blesma; John Terry represnted Rays of Sunshine and Laura Whitmore appeared on behalf of The King’s Trust.

Invesco reaches £200,000 fundraising target for Rainbow Trust Children’s Charity 

Asset management company Invesco has reached its fundraising target of £200,000 in its two-year charity partnership with Rainbow Trust Children’s Charity.

Fundraising highlights this year included a 17-strong team taking on Invesco’s annual Thames Challenge: a triathlon-style event travelling 95km between the firm’s EMEA headquarters in Henley-on-Thames and the new City of London office, which raised over £13,000.

Fund manager Alexandra Ivanova embarked on a six-day trek through Norway and Finland learning essential survival skills in the extreme environment of the Arctic Circle, raising £5,000.

Staff also took part in the London Marathon, along with charity bake sales, a salary sacrifice initiative and a final push to cross the line with generous staff donations at the Henley and London office winter socials.

The Invesco Cares Foundation matched staff fundraising to double the total.

Invesco have also donated tickets to families supported by Rainbow Trust so that they could access Wildfowl & Wetland Trust (WWT) centres across the UK to spend time in nature.

Rainbow Trust pairs families with expert Family Support Workers, enabling them to make the most of time together while receiving practical and emotional support.

Kia UK to donate £1 to The Children’s Society for every car sold

Kia UK’s new partnership with The Children’s Society involves a donation of £1 for every car sold. Sales of over 113,500 vehicles in 2025 will contribute a substantial annual contribution aimed at funding the charity’s services, including early mental health support and safe spaces for vulnerable children and young people across England and Wales.

Paul Philpott, President & CEO of Kia UK, will run the 2026 London Marathon in support of the charity.

The new collaboration follows Kia UK’s four-year partnership with the Surrey Wildlife Trust, and includes fundraising, awareness campaigns, and employee/customer volunteer opportunities at the Children’s Society’s 103 nationwide shops.

Kia UK’s previous charitable support

• The Children’s Trust
  In 2017 Kia UK partnered with the UK’s charity for children with brain injury and neurodisability. That collaboration focused on raising awareness and funds to support rehabilitation, education, and community services for young people and their families.

• Charity collaborations
  Kia UK has supported national and local initiatives, from health-focused campaigns to community outreach projects. Events included a sponsored 1,000-mile trek undertaken by 65 employees in 2016 to raise over £20,000 for Walton Charity.

• The Kia New Future Fund
  In 2015 Kia UK staff completed a six‑week Grand Tour of Europe challenge, collectively walking 33,318 miles and raised £33,000 for Walton Charity. The charity matched the sum to help create the £66,000 ‘Kia New Futures Fund’, which was used to support local disadvantaged children and families.

Russell Hobbs launches ‘Plates for Change’ school campaign to support Action Against Hunger

Russell Hobbs has launched its ‘Plates for Change’ nationwide school campaign as part of its three-year global charity partnership with Action Against Hunger.

The initiative is a corporate social responsibility effort designed to raise awareness among children about global hunger issues and encourage them to ‘cook for good.’

The sustained investment by the corporate partner in both brand purpose and cause-related marketing targets Key Stage 2-6 pupils (ages 7-11) through a partnership with The National Schools Partnership (NSP) and We Are Futures, providing a full suite of curriculum-aligned resources, including lesson plans and activity worksheets.

The educational content delves into the critical topics of how hunger affects people both in the UK and worldwide, the importance of nutrition, and the characteristics of healthy eating across different cultures.

To drive engagement and media attention, the ‘Plates for Change’ programme includes a high-profile, nationwide competition. Primary schools are invited to have students design plates that visually tell a story about hunger based on their classroom learning. Schools can win prizes worth up to £1,750.

Strategically the campaign aligns the Russell Hobbs brand with the positive impact of nutritional education.

Action Against Hunger’s leadership highlighted that the initiative builds “knowledge that endures well beyond the classroom,” stressing the fundamental link between good nutrition and a child’s ability to learn and thrive.

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.