Involve your staff
Ways to get involved | Recent success
Ways to get involved
Charity of the Year: Supporting a chosen charity can be fun and is a great way to incorporate a wide range of activities that staff can work together on towards a final objective. We can work closely with you to develop a tailor-made programme.
Employee fundraising: Encouraging employees to take part in fundraising is great for team building and helps to motivate and develop your staff, building a more harmonious and efficient work place. It's also a great deal of fun plus can be a brilliant way to attract publicity and illustrate how socially-aware your company is. As it's driven by staff, it's also extremely cost effective.
Examples include:
- Dress-down days
- Entering a team into a local half marathon/10K.
- Taking part in a Meningitis UK event such as the 4Hour Challenge
- Organising your own sponsored event such as a walk
- Holding a raffle/autcion in the context of one of your corporate events.
"According to research, 87 per cent of employees believe that a company that supports society and community is probably a good company to work for (Business in the Community, 1997)"
Outdoor Challenges: As an official charity partner of Charity Challenge, we can arrange for your team to take part in a charity challenge such as trekking the Three Peaks or cycling in Cuba, which can be in the UK or overseas. This will not only raise vital funds through sponsorship but encourages your team to work together. Or, why not think about a Rat Race Urban Adventure (taking place in most major UK cities)?
Matched Giving: This is where your company matches or tops up the amount an employee raises or donates. Lots of companies now run dedicated matched giving schemes which employees can apply to. These can be capped at a set level if need be. By rewarding employees for their hard efforts, it boosts morale plus you don't have to pay corporation tax on the money you give. We can work with you to develop your programme, design employee application forms and quarterly statements for staff.
Payroll giving: Payroll Giving is an easy way for employees to make regular donations through the payroll before tax is deducted. It helps them to ‘spread the load' plus enables us to plan our research knowing that funds are secure. If your company doesn't have a payroll giving scheme, we can help your payroll department set one up through a government-approved agency such as Charities Aid Foundation or Give As You Earn who handle all the administration.
Research shows payroll giving benefits business by boosting your social responsibility profile and through improved staff retention.
Volunteering/Pro Bono: We are always on the look out for people to cheer on our runners at events such as the Bristol Half Marathon and Great North Run, and to help collect money at the many public collections we hold across the UK. Likewise, if your company can provide staff to work on a pro bono basis, e.g. with marketing or IT, this would be invaluable and would save us spending much-needed funds. It would also provide your employees with a valuable experience.
Recent Success
Cummins walk for Meningitis UK
Meningitis UK is delighted to have been chosen as one of Cummins Engine Company's charities of the year. On 20th June their employees, retirees, friends and family embarked on a 23 mile walk in Swaledale raising £1,450 for us.
Trekking Swaledale to raise funds.
Graeme Ketley, Stephen Butterworth and others, meanwhile, raised over £500 through the Three Peaks Challenge and Trudi Peart and friends took on the Coast to Coast cycle ride in August.
Terry and Sue Laing receive a cheque from Raymond Hepworth of Cummins Engine Company
On top of this, the annual Helen's Walk around Osmotherley, North Yorkshire in May, held in memory of Helen Laing, daughter of former Cummins employee Terry Laing, raised a brilliant £8,633. A very big thank you to all involved.
Servis - Charity of the Year
Domestic appliance company Servis nominated Meningitis UK as their official charity and have pledged to raise £44,000 towards our Search 4 a Vaccine Campaign. Just some of the things that Servis employees have got involved with include takiong part in the charity's marathon walks, organising an easter bonnet lunch and a sponsored slim. Servis have also generously donated goods as prizes for various Meningitis UK events, which has all gone towards their total target which they are well on their way to raising!
Gill Hewitson, Marketing Manager at Servis says, "Servis is immensely proud to be assoicated with Meningitis UK and as corporate sponsors we will do our utmost to help raise the vital funds needed for lifesaving research into finding a vaccine; so many families' lives are blighted by this devastating disease and eveything possible must be done to eradicate it. We also have a lot of fun raising the money."
Rolls Royce - Staff fundraising
A team of hardy runners from Rolls Royce's London HQ took part in the JPMorgan Chase Corporate Challenge in tribute to a colleague who sadly lost his mother to meningitis. They raised £3,800 by running in the 3.5 miles. Everyone dug deep and made it around the Battersea Park course in one piece, supported by their friends and family who were cheering from the sidelines!
Jamie Davies after the JPMorgan Chase Corporate Challenge with his pride and joy
Southern Railway - Staff fundraising
Keith Whitcomb from train company Southern Railway in Brighton organised a six mile coastal walk from West Worthing to Littlehampton in memory of former colleague Simon Hill who tragically died of meningitis. 89 people, made up of Southern Railway staff, their families and friends, stepped out to join Keith and Simon's wife Karen to raise a magnificent £9,370 for Meningitis UK.
.jpg "Southern Trains Simon Hill Walk 4 Meningitis")
Everyone gathered at the start of the walk
4 Hour Challenge Success - Staff fundraising
As part of Meningitis UK's 4 Hour Challenge, Singer & Friedlander Finance in Dorking held a dress down day and raffle on 4th April 2008 - the first anniversary of our Search 4 a Vaccine Campaign - and raised £222. One of their employees, Gill Darbyshire's daughter Emily was in intensive care for two months fighting meninigitis encephalitis and septicaemia after becoming ill in September 2006.
Gill Darbyshire (left) and colleagues take up the 4-Hour Challenge
Rowlands Solicitors - Charity of the year and staff fundraising
A team of 32 brave employees from Rowlands Solicitors in Manchester who adopted Meningitis UK as their charity of the year, ran the Great Manchester Run in 2006 - in the rain, and raised a fantastic £1,892 through sponsorship, which the firm then matched with a donation of £2,000 to make a massive £3,834.
The running team had Meningitis UK running vests designed for them with Rowlands Solicitors logo on and Meningitis UK's Founder, Steve Dayman attended a photo call to accept the cheque with the charity's patron, football legend Denis Law.
Ronald Taylor, Managing Partner of Rowlands Solicitors in Manchester explains why the company adopted Meningitis UK as their charity of the year, "Meningitis affects over 2,300 people in the UK every year and causes so much heartache and devastation. When we were deciding on which charity we wanted to support we really felt that Meningitis UK's focus to find a vaccine to eradicate all forms of meningitis was an extremely worthwhile cause."
The Rowlands Solicitors team at the start of the Great Manchester Run
Barclays - Employee Fundraising and Matched Giving
Barclays employee, Linda Hough who works for their UK Banking Services department in Birmingham, organised a raffle and cake sale for hungry colleagues and raised £956 in memory of her niece Lianne Hough who tragically died of meningitis. Barclays matched the money which was raised which meant that they were able to donate a total of £1,912 towards Meningitis UK's lifesaving research.
The Barclays team proudly present a cheque for £1,912 to Meningitis UK's Founder, Steve Dayman, in memory of employee Linda Hough's niece Lianne
If this has provided you with inspiration and you would like to talk about ways in which your company could support Meningitis UK, please call Kate, our Head of Development on 0117 303 33 40 or email katerowland@meningitisuk.org
MeningitisUK · Registered Charity No.1076774