Charity news
Cintra’s cyclists raise £000s for COCO SUPPORTERS OF the charity Comrades of Children Overseas (COCO) set off from Whitehaven on Friday 23 September and dipped their front wheels in the sea at Tynemouth on Sunday afternoon. Led by Cintra’s chief executive officer (CEO) Carsten Staehr, fifteen Cintra cyclists raised over £4,500 for COCO, with their boss introducing an element of competition to the event and racing his colleagues from west to east. The COCO Coast-2-Coast Challenge has developed into a major annual event for the charity, raising vital funds for transformational education projects in east Africa. Money raised will be used to boost a COCO project in one of the poorest areas of Tanzania, which encourages enterprise through the provision of small loans.
Carsten Staehr said: “The Coast-2-Coast is the jewel in our fundraising crown and I am absolutely delighted to be joined by so many of our colleagues for this challenge. Our wonderful staff are always prepared to go above and beyond.
(left to right) Gary Eden, head of Cintra iQ, Alastair Green, head of self-service Cintra, Carsten Staehr, CEO Cintra
“We are long-term supporters of COCO and the amazing work they do and hope that our £4,500 fundraising target will go a long way to support their latest project. It’s a fantastic event, for an amazing charity – the icing on the cake for us is retaining our Coast-2- Coast crown.” Lucy Philipson, CEO of COCO, commented: “COCO is really grateful for the brilliant fundraising efforts of all of the Coast-2-Coast Challenge cyclists – once again, they have given up valuable time to support the charity and have put their bodies on the line to raise much needed money. Huge thanks and congratulations to everyone who saddled up – I was there to meet them in Tynemouth and they were weary but elated. COCO is particularly grateful to Cintra for the amazing support that they have given to this event.” Revolutionising charitable giving in the workplace A NEW phase of the national Geared for Giving campaign was launched in early October by BT chairman Sir Michael Rake calling for every employer in the United Kingdom with over 250 employees to offer payroll giving to their staff. The campaign aims to double both the amount raised by payroll giving for charities to £260 million annually and also the number of employees giving to two million within the next five years. Geared for Giving hopes to make giving to charity through pay a social norm in the UK, creating vital steady income for charities while enabling people to easily support the charities and causes close to their hearts. The campaign has been founded by a group of the UK’s biggest employers – ASOS, BT, Beaverbrooks, Experian, Linklaters LLP and The Entertainer – and by fundraising organisations Hands On Payroll Giving and The Payroll Giving Team. BT has generously pledged £100,000 to build a new digital platform, launching in spring 2017, which for the first time will enable employees to request to sign up to payroll giving. BT chairman, Sir Michael Rake, said: “Payroll giving is the simplest and most effective way to give to charity, both for employers and employees, and is a great way to boost charitable giving overall. BT alone raises £3.5m for charities through payroll giving every year, and we encourage more British businesses to get behind the scheme to help deliver its true potential.” Peter O’Hara, Geared for Giving founder and CEO, commented: “We are on the verge of a dramatic transformation in employee giving. There is huge appetite and with the backing of top business leaders and such a large audience to engage with, we are looking forward to growing the supporter base to spread the Geared for Giving message in workplaces across the UK.” A Geared for Giving video can be viewed at http://bit.ly/2dj2WoA.
| Professional in Payroll, Pensions and Reward | November 2016 | Issue 25 48
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