BAE Systems
Employees from BAE Systems supported Macmillan for 18 months in 2007/8. The partnership was run as part of Charity Challenge – a global employee fundraising and volunteering programme, which has worked with national and local charities since its inception in 1989.
The Charity Challenge scheme operates across more than 50 of BAE Systems' wholly-owned and joint-ventured facilities in the UK and the partnership with Macmillan focused mainly on employee fundraising and volunteering in the local community for people affected by cancer.
Successful fundraising initiatives included a national raffle, a male cancer awareness drive and a virtual challenge where participants were challenged to run, walk or cycle 1058 miles - the distance between Land's End to John O'Groats.
On the volunteering front Macmillan organised team building events and challenged employees to pick up paintbrushes and spades and give their time and energy to transform the homes and gardens of people affected by cancer.
Also, the 'Apprentice Innovation Challenge' saw BAE Systems apprentices challenged to design and manufacture a product that could help someone affected by cancer. To incentivise staff BAE Systems matched funds raised for Macmillan and also gave £50 for every day 'spent' by employees volunteering in their own time.
The partnership managed to raise a magnificent £1.2 million over the 18 months. Michelle Fairbairn, Corporate Responsibility Manager at BAE Systems states:
'Working with Macmillan Cancer Support as a corporate partner has been a fantastic experience for all our sites in the UK. Cancer is something that will affect everyone in some way or another so it came as no surprise that all our employees really got behind the charity and did as much as they could to fundraise, volunteer and raise awareness for Macmillan.
'It wasn't just a one way give either as BAE Systems also benefited immensely through working in partnership with Macmillan. For example the opportunities they offered gave our employees the chance to advance their own personal development while helping a good cause and the effect that the Apprentice Innovation Challenge has had on our young apprentices has been immense.
'We had a great campaign with Macmillan and there is no doubt that they have left the kind of legacy that will mean BAE Systems and its staff will be supporting Macmillan for years to come.'
Capita
Capita is the UK's leading business process outsourcing company and Macmillan was overwhelmingly voted as Capita's charity partner for 2008 and 2009 by employees in a staff vote at the beginning of the year. The partnership began in March 2008 and hopes to raise £1 million.
Fundraising activity will involve around 29,000 employees and 300 sites across the UK and kicked off at the end of April with the Capita Challenge, which raised over £67,000 through sponsored challenges in one weekend.
Capita will also support Macmillan's biggest fundraisers including the World's Biggest Coffee Morning in September as well organising their own events, including their annual charity week which is hoped to raise over £50,000.
Capita also hopes to raise an estimated £10,000 a month through it's innovative prompt payment scheme whereby Capita donates £100 to Macmillan for every invoice over £25,000 that is paid within a 21 day period by it's clients.
Paul Pindar Chief Executive says:
'I am very pleased that Capita has chosen Macmillan as its new charity partner and we are looking forward to working with them. We have set ourselves a challenging target to raise over £1 million over our two year partnership to help people affected by cancer.'
Card Factory
Macmillan is very excited to announce that the new partnership with Card Factory was officially launched in August 2008. Card Factory is the fastest growing greetings card retailer in the UK with over 400 stores nationwide.
Card Factory has pledged to donate an amazing £1,000,000 over the next two years through the sale of greeting cards and products.
Dean Hoyle, Card Factory's Chairman said:
'Card Factory is delighted to be working with Macmillan Cancer Support. We hope our mutually beneficial partnership goes from strength to strength and we are able to raise awareness of Macmillan's services whilst helping even more people affected by cancer through our donation. We're thrilled to be able to launch this exciting partnership from the very store where Card Factory began just over 10 years ago in Wakefield.'
All of the Company's 400 stores will be involved nationally, and in addition to the donation of £1 million supporting events will take place to raise more money and raise awareness of Macmillan Cancer Support. We have already planned a leaflet awareness campaign in August and October to promote the partnership, and Macmillan Cancer Support and also a 'We Go Mad, We Go Green' fundraising event in October.
Monarch Airlines
Monarch Airlines have now raised over £2 million for Macmillan. The relationship, which spans more than a decade, has grown year on year. Monarch employees have fundraised in a variety of ways across Monarch's bases at Luton, Gatwick, Birmingham and Manchester with the World's Biggest Coffee Morning as the main focus.
The majority of fundraising however, has come from onboard collections. Monarch is currently running a '20p challenge' where passengers are asked to donate at least 20p each on all in bound flights.
This has been a highly successful initiative and is continuing for the foreseeable future. Monarch's support has enabled us to help both local projects, for example the Guildford Palliative Care Service, and smaller projects all over Britain.
Jo Robertson, Head of PR and Communications for Monarch commented:
'We are delighted to have raised £2 million for Macmillan and would also like to thank all our passengers who have donated so generously for more than a decade.'
National Garden Scheme
The National Gardens Scheme (NGS) is an extraordinary example of an organisation that donates to Macmillan. Since 1927 the NGS has raised money for nursing, caring and gardening charities by opening gardens to the public. Most of the 3,500 gardens are privately owned, and some open as part of a group which gets the whole community involved.
Macmillan has been a beneficiary of the NGS since 1985. In 2008 the NGS generously donated £500,000 to Macmillan, which brings the total raised for Macmillan to an incredible £11.6 million since 1985! The total number of Macmillan services funded by the NGS is now over 130. This includes nursing posts, financial advice, physiotherapy and councelling, helping to make a difference to the lives of hundreds of thousands of people affected by cancer all across the UK.
The NGS 'Yellow Book 2008' is a full listing of gardens opened by the NGS. It is available from the NGS website
www.ngs.org.uk and all good bookstores throughout the UK at £7.99.
'We are delighted to have funded the equivalent of 130 Macmillan services in England and Wales since 1985. It is a wonderful incentive for garden owners and visitors alike.'
Julia Grant, Chief Executive, National Gardens Scheme
Nationwide
The Nationwide Building Society partnership is now in its 15th year, having raised an amazing £5 million for Macmillan during that time. Since 1999, Nationwide has made an annual donation to Macmillan of £150,000. The total donation is matched thanks to employees, customers and members. From going green for the day to volunteering projects, there's no limit to the creativity of their support.
The partnership grows from strength to strength with Nationwide not only raising much needed funds for Macmillan but also through the promotion of our services through their many channels.
Nationwide are huge supporters of
World's Biggest Coffee Morning and this year are using the event to launch a 15 day celebration event to mark the success of our partnership. Nationwide also sponsor Macmillan's Cancer Guide - which helps recently diagnosed people understand cancer, its treatment and the help available.
Most recently, Nationwide encouraged their members to vote at their AGM in July by pledging to donate 20p to Macmillan for every vote cast (this amount was capped at £250,000). Nationwide saw record voting numbers of well over 1.5 million members which helped to raise an astounding £250,000. The money raised will be used by Macmillan to help fund two Cancer Information and Support Centres in Durham and Plymouth, which will make a real difference to many people's lives.
These centres will be staffed by a full-time information officer and provide consultation and alternative therapy rooms, helping people receive the information and support they need.
Caroline Hallatt, Head of Corporate Responsibility at Nationwide says:
"We are extremely proud of our partnership with Macmillan and of the £5m contribution our employees and customers have made over the past 15 years. We hope our recent AGM donation together with Macmillan's knowledge and expertise will make a real difference to people living with cancer in Plymouth and Durham. In addition to our central corporate donations we continue to ensure that money raised locally is spent locally. Importantly, this enables us to support communities across the UK and increases the impact individual branches can make."
Macmillan and npower have been working together since 2004 and the partnership is now valued in excess of £2million! npower's long term commitment has ensured that we can make an even bigger impact on the lives of people affected by cancer.
One of the most rewarding elements of the partnership has been the way that npower employees have engaged and really embraced Macmillan as their charity.
Employees have a real innovative 'can do' attitude, which is visible on both large scale corporate fundraising days like The World's Biggest Coffee Morning and Walk Wonders, but also through their individual efforts whether that's running a marathon or cycling across deserts!
npower has helped us to develop our strategy and has been particularly helpful in sharing their knowledge and expertise in the evaluation of community investment. Recently we have begun to work on ways of addressing fuel poverty for people affected by cancer. In addition to this, we continue to develop new ways of working together through a range of commercial initiatives.
The success of the partnership has been recognised with a Hollis Award for most effective use of sponsorship within charity and community. npower has also just been awarded the CommunityMark by Business in the Community, which recognises them as a good investor in the community.
Outfit
Outfit is the out-of-town fashion store, housing the best of the high streets brands. Outfit has supported Macmillan since April 2008 and has raised just under £100k in the first 4 months of the partnership, through various employee fundraising activities and selling bag charms, pin badges and key rings in store.
'It is a pleasure to be working with Macmillan and helping raise money and awareness for people affected by cancer. We are delighted at the success of the partnership and the amount we have raised so far. It is an amazing achievement and we are very proud of the generosity and enthusiasm of our staff and customers.'
Dale Haden, Outfit Marketing Manager
The Royal Bank of Scotland
On 2 April 2008 The Royal Bank of Scotland Group announced a three year partnership with Macmillan Cancer Support which will see £1.5m allocated to help the charity tackle the poverty that can be caused by cancer.
RBS Group will be donating £500,000 a year for three years to help Macmillan provide even better support to people affected by cancer. With this donation, Macmillan will be able to broaden the current services that they provide to help people cope with the financial impact of cancer, including financial advisors and a telephone helpline.
This extends the work RBS Group is already doing in financial inclusion and money guidance through their RBS Group MoneySense programme for schools and adults.
This partnership builds upon strong foundation of support from RBS Group employees. In 2007 they raised over £250,000 for Macmillan Cancer Support by running marathons, signing up to GAYE and organising special events such as a dress down day or a pub quiz. And, in 2008 we are launching an Employee Engagement Programme with events and challenges specifically designed for their employees.
'Almost half a million people say they could benefit from extra financial guidance during this already stressful time. Some expert help on money matters can assist people in dealing with issues before they become problems and reduce unnecessary stress. Our partnership with Macmillan will provide this much needed practical support.'
Stephen Moir, Head of Community Investment
For further information please contact Francesca Insole, Corporate Account and Employee Engagement Manager on 020 7840 4641 or email
finsole@macmillan.org.uk
Somerfield
In early 2007, Somerfield staff and customers voted for Macmillan Cancer Support to be its Charity Partner for 2007 – 2008. The partnership officially began 1st March 2007, and Somerfield have committed to raising over £2m to help Macmillan fund a number of key cancer care services across the UK.
More than 44,000 colleagues and nine million customers across its 900 plus stores nationwide have been involved in the fundraising efforts. As well as in store fundraising and sales promotions, Somerfield sponsored Macmillan's newest fundraiser, The Big Picnic, in July 2007 and 2008, which has raised over a quarter of a million pounds. Somerfield also launched the Little Book of Treats, which is currently on sale exclusively in Somerfield stores.
Pete Williams, Head of Press and PR at Somerfield, comments:
'We are thrilled to have launched such a successful partnership that has raised so much money for people living with cancer. We as a company are fully committed to helping Macmillan improve the lives of those affected by cancer .'