The Spring lockdown and nationwide Covid-19 restrictions relating to the workplace and socialising have had a big impact on the ability of charities, large and small to fundraise in 2020. At Excalibur, we have a strong track record in backing charities close to our heart and are proud to have continued our Salary Sacrifice scheme throughout this period. In the last six months we are pleased to have raised over £3,600 for charity.
Each month, Excalibur employees choose to deduct a small percentage of their wages to be donated to an employee nominated charity. At the monthly company meeting – currently virtual – an Excalibur colleague’s name is pulled out a hat. This colleague is then able to select a charity of their choice to receive the month’s £600 donation.
Recent donations include: Wiltshire Search and Rescue, Dorothy House Hospice (Winsley), Nerve Tumours UK, Caring In Bristol, Mental Health and Wellbeing charity IPSUM and The Ashley Scrivens Foundation a local youth sports accessibility grant making trust.
Each charity who has received a donation has sent Excalibur colleagues a big ‘thank you’ as the money raised is enabling them to support the people who need their assistance. Some have shared how they will use their donation:
“Wiltshire Search and Rescue is delighted to have received this vital money from Excalibur Communications. As an entirely voluntary team we rely on donations to keep the search operations viable and this money will be used to support our crucial radio communications. Often, we are searching in very rural areas where telephone communications can be quite minimal and we use digital radios to communicate important information about the missing person search. We are therefore going to use the donation to buy a radio mast for our control vehicle which will be both an antenna and used as rig for lighting. Thank you so much for your donation and for your support of Wiltshire Search and Rescue.”
Adrian Sawyer, Chair, Wiltshire Search and Rescue
“It was such a surprise to receive an email from the team at Excalibur to advise us that Dorothy House had won this month’s donation from the company charity collection scheme. We’re particularly grateful to Anna for nominating the Hospice to receive this gift in recognition of the vital palliative and end of life care that we provide to our local community. Your support is so important at this time.”
Phillippa Watson, Philanthropy Manager, Dororthy House Hospice Care
“Nerve Tumours UK are immensely grateful for this wonderful donation as we are only a small charity, and we are finding things extremely difficult in the current climate, as all events have either been postponed or cancelled. Your donation will pay for one of our part time Specialist Neurofibromatosis Nurses for two weeks, thus helping hundreds of people (We estimate that for each person with NF that we help, up to eight of their support network also benefits from our help.), and there is a huge demand for our services at present, as people with NF are more susceptible to Covid-19 because of some of their complications.”
Karen Cockburn, Nerve Tumours UK, Charity Director
