A year of giving back with match funding
In 2024 we shared a new match fundraising initiative with colleagues, offering to make company match funding donations in support of their charity endeavours.
Through the scheme, which runs alongside our 2024-2026 Group strategy, colleagues can claim up to £30,000 in additional charity donations each year, with the company providing donations to match their personal and team fundraising efforts. Across the 3 years, this provides the potential for colleagues to benefit from £90,000 of company-funded charity donations.
Supporting local causes, something that’s close to our hearts
We’re extremely proud of our company culture, that has grown organically thanks to the fantastic people who deliver our services with integrity and care. Each year it’s a privilege to see them operate with accountability not just when their working with clients, but when they support their local communities. From volunteering time to being involved in important initiatives to setting themselves fundraising goals.
Our charity match funding scheme recognises the value we place on supporting our local communities, and our commitment to rewarding colleagues who go the extra mile to help others. We were pleased to see interest across the business to get involved with the scheme last year, with branches and teams coming up with some great ideas to drive fundraising and bring in much welcomed donations.
We look back at 2024, to see how our colleagues rose to the challenge.
Getting moving to support personal charities
Keen to get active to raise money for their chosen charities, colleagues got involved with 10 sponsored events – from walking to push-ups.
The unofficial award for the longest distance in one weekend went to our CEO David Redmayne and Group Director Daniel Redmayne – who took part in Rally Round Rupert’s 100-mile Cotswold Way Walk. Having previously joined family friends for last year’s fundraising event to raise important funds to support Rupert and other children diagnosed with spinal muscular atrophy, this year’s gruelling challenge involved days of walking through the Cotswolds, as the team of 100 walkers took on the 2024 challenge. The event managed to bring in over £34,900, as well as 100 tired walkers as they crossed the finishing line.
Elsewhere colleagues put one foot in front of the other to raise money for Parkinson’s UK, Wigan Youth Zone, Cancer Research UK, Marie Curie and Dementia UK – including Software Developer Srivalli Akkavajhula who, with her community group Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh (HSS UK), raised money for The Market Place Leeds.
Whilst another IT colleague Lee Eastham swapped his feet for pedals, taking part in his local Mersey Mini Club’s sponsored drive to raise money for BBC Children in Need. Local residents were treated to a procession of dozens of Minis travelling along the route, which together with a raffle and auction helped to raise over £1,300.
Welcoming the first NRL Rail Golf Day
In May, Rail Director Brett Hawke welcomed guests to the inaugural NRL Rail Golf Day. Organised alongside colleague Eliot Schofield, the pair swapped planning rail maintenance work for clients with planning a charity golf day. Held at Silkstone Golf Club, the event raised money for Barnsley Independent Alzheimer’s and Dementia Support, and 52 participants took part – with people travelling from Scotland, Newcastle, Crewe and London to take part. Thanks to their impressive efforts £2,078 was raised from the day.
Getting creative for local causes
Across the year colleagues impressed us with a range of other activities to raise money for their chosen charities. Our Wigan Recruitment team run an all-year round tuck shop where colleagues can buy treats whilst helping to raise money for the Samaritans local branch. In September our Sunderland and Wigan teams also organised Macmillan Coffee Mornings, to raise more donations.
Whilst our Heysham team worked with colleagues on EDF Energy’s Heysham 1 and 2 power stations to organise a quiz at their local Morecambe Football Club. Selling tickets for the night, as well as planning a raffle with prizes generously donated by local businesses, the event raised over £1,840, which we were able to double with company match funding.
In what has now become an annual tradition, colleagues in our Wigan-based recruitment, Group support and Linx teams took part in the Royal British Legion’s Poppy Appeal in November, spending the fortnight selling poppies and merchandise in the local supermarket. Thanks to the generosity of colleagues to swap time in the office with a shift on the poppy stall using their paid charity days, company donations were made for everyone who took part – adding £4,922 to the regional fundraising total.
Support our local foodbanks
We’re proud to be a Living Wage Employer and are committed to ensuring our colleagues are paid a wage that can manage the challenges everyday life throws at us, from childcare costs to home emergencies. As we approached Christmas however, we were very conscious that not everyone is in that same boat, and the growing cost of living paired with the increased spend around Christmas provide a real struggle for many people.
In 2023 we finished off our 40th anniversary celebration challenge to support 40 charities, with donations to each of the local foodbanks near our branches and offices. This was something we wanted to do again in 2024. From Falkirk to Woking, Egypt to Poland, the donations played just a small part in the huge effort foodbanks and their volunteers put into supporting people to bridge the gap, and we’re grateful for the beacon of support they provide to local residents.
Reflecting on 2024
Charity donations like these are thanks to the dedication and time our colleagues place on supporting their local communities, and together we’re pleased to have given £18,500 in company funding, bringing the total raised for charity in 2024 including personal and team fundraising to £26,621.
In 2025 the clocks reset, and so does the company match funding pot – which means another £30,000 is available to colleagues to support their charity activity. We look forward to seeing what they do, and the charities they choose to support.