Charities of the year

Our charities of the year

Our ‘charities of the year’ are individual charities that we support for a set period of two years. We highlight the work they do and help to raise funds for them.

Until November 2023, they are Carers UK, Demelza Hospice Care for Children and WWF-UK

Carers UK is the leading national charity for unpaid carers. Their mission is to make life better for carers. They support, advocate for, connect and champion carers across the UK.

Demelza Hospice Care for Children provides vital expert care for children with serious or terminal conditions and their families. They believe that even a short life can be a full life.

WWF is one of the world’s largest independent conservation organisations. Their mission is to restore nature and tackle the main causes of nature’s decline, particularly the food system and climate change.

How we choose our charities 

We choose our charities of the year by inviting our colleagues to advocate for the causes they are passionate about. Then we create a shortlist and ask all our colleagues to vote on which three they want to raise funds for and support.

To make sure we support a wide range of causes, we aim for:

• one charity that that aligns with our diversity and inclusion agenda 
• one smaller local charity with a regional focus
• one nationally or internationally recognised charity

Our previous charities of the year

In previous years, we chose the two charities that received the highest number of votes, regardless of the cause. Those two charities became our charitable partners for 12 months. 

One of the ways our colleagues have donated to our charities of the year for over 15 years is through the Pennies from Heaven scheme. In 2022 we received a Platinum Award from the scheme for continued high level of support. They have given us their top award for 10 years.

Our recent charities of the year with the amounts we’ve been pleased to donate are:

2020 / 2021
We raised over £320,000 for Childline (a service provided by NSPCC) and Shelter. 

2019 / 2020 
We raised over £240,000 for Pancreatic Cancer UK and Young Minds. 

2018 / 2019
We raised over £180,000 for The Brain Tumour Charity and London’s Air Ambulance.

2017 /2018 
We raised over £136,000 for Child Bereavement UK and Samaritans.