Leading transport operator FirstGroup's three year charity partnership with Macmillan Cancer Support, which drew to a close on 31 March, has been nominated for one of the country's top charitable awards.
Third Sector magazine's Business Charity Awards 2015 recognise the contribution made by UK companies to charities and social enterprises. The FirstGroup and Macmillan partnership has been nominated in the charity partnership category, along with entries from Boeing, E.On, Keyline and Slimming World. The awards ceremony will be held at The Brewery, Chiswell Street in London, on 19 May.
FirstGroup has given £1.1m in fundraised cash and gift in kind to Macmillan Cancer Support during the three year partnership. Corporate donations combined with employee fundraising enabled the Group to donate £390,170 to Macmillan's financial grant programme, which funded 1,337 grants in areas of the country where FirstGroup rail and bus companies operate. A Macmillan financial grant helps people affected by cancer to purchase essential items like a new washing machine or fridge. , or to pay for unavoidable expenses such as fuel bills. A grant can also be used towards paying for unavoidable rises in expenses, such as higher fuel bills, which can be caused by a patient feeling the cold more as a result of their medical treatment.
As part of the charity partnership FirstGroup adopted the 'Macmillan at Work' programme which provides managers with the tools to support employees affected by cancer. 119,000 people of working age are diagnosed with cancer every year in the UK and more than 500,000 others have to juggle their work with looking after someone with cancer. Macmillan's research showed that employers can play a pivotal role in supporting people with cancer and their carers, and so the Group's campaign addressed specific issues in employee health and wellbeing.
FirstGroup also donated advertising space on trains and buses across the UK during the partnership, worth more than £700,000 to Macmillan over the three year period. Buses and trains featured adverts for the charity's World's Biggest Coffee Morning, and Go Sober for October fundraising campaigns, which were successful in encouraging bus and rail passengers to text to donate to Macmillan, and to text to register as event hosts. The charity also used this space to support its flagship Not Alone campaign, which aims to raise awareness of Macmillan's services amongst local communities across the UK with the aim of ensuring that no one has to face cancer alone.
Katie Smart, FirstGroup's Corporate Responsibility and Community Manager, said: “We're delighted by the success of our partnership with Macmillan Cancer Support. Over the last three years, our employees and customers really got behind the partnership and we raised the fantastic sum of £1.1m in funds and gift in kind, to help Macmillan support those affected by cancer. We're so proud of everything we've achieved with Macmillan and are looking forward to our new link with Prostate Cancer UK, beginning this month.”
Sally Hill, Partnership Manager at Macmillan Cancer Support added: “I'm delighted that Macmillan's partnership with FirstGroup has been recognised by the Third Sector Business Charity Awards. FirstGroup's support of our financial grants programme has helped us to provide a grant to an additional 1,337 individuals or families faced with the financial impact of a cancer diagnosis, while the donated advertising space has helped raise awareness of our services and helped bring us a step closer to our ambition of ensuring that no one faces cancer alone. I'd like to say thank you to everyone at FirstGroup for their enthusiasm and support over the past three years.”
Prostate Cancer UK is the company's new UK Charity of Choice partner after a recent employee vote. The new three year partnership between the Group and the charity will support men affected by prostate cancer, and their partners and families, through employee events, collections and promotions.
