The MND Association has yet to decide how to allocate the money, but possibilities include funding a care centre, providing customised wheelchairs and communication aids, or making a major contribution toward a research grant.
“MND Association is the first charity VSG has sponsored, but after this achievement we will certainly go on to select a different charity and start over,” said VSG managing director Keith Francis.
“We are a company with a culture where welfare and care are important, and this naturally leads to a desire to help look after those who are less fortunate than ourselves. Our staff were very keen to participate, and they genuinely enjoyed taking part in the events.”
The VSG staff, of whom there are more than 4,000 working in the field and at the company’s offices in Northampton, Dublin, Belfast and London, raised the money by organising numerous imaginative events.
Among these were a sponsored cycle ride from London to Amsterdam, several climbs up Ben Nevis, family fun days, golf days, dress down days and many others. The most successful single event, however, was a masked ball held at Whittlebury Hall in Northampton, where no less than GB pound 10,000 was raised in one evening through raffles and party games.
VSG also operates a monthly payroll lottery, which has been very successful in raising funds and which, the company notes, offers entrants much better odds on winning than the National Lottery!
Significant donation
“This is a very significant donation for us,” said Douglas Graham, director of fundraising at MND Association.
“To put it into perspective, we have set up care centres within hospitals around the country, which bring together the professionals, such as occupational therapists, that are needed to help treat people living with MND. The donation from VSG would be enough to cover the operating costs of one of these centres for a whole year!
” GB pound 50,000 would also make up a significant proportion of one of our research grants looking at the causes of the disease and the effects of treatment.
“This is a terrible disease – it locks able-minded people inside failing bodies, and it affects people from all walks of life. Around 1,500 people are diagnosed each year, and the average time between diagnosis and death is just 14 months. As well as providing care and support, we also fund a large number of scientific research projects to better understand and, ultimately, find a treatment for this disease.
“We are truly grateful for the efforts and generosity of VSG’s staff – and of course, of those who sponsored them. We are absolutely delighted to have been VSG’s designated charity for the last two years, and we wish the company every success in its next charity venture.”
VSG selected MND Association as its first charity partner for many reasons. The first was that the company felt it to be a charity that would benefit from greater public awareness, and from additional funding for research, as there is no known cure for motor neuron disease. The second reason for choosing MND Association was that it is a national charity, but its headquarters are in Northampton, as are VSG’s own. This made it a natural fit.
The company also had existing personal connections with the charity, as some of its staff members have families that have been affected by the disease.
New charity partner
Now that its relationship with MND Association has reached its very successful conclusion, VSG is in the process of choosing a new charity partner. The company’s charity committee will shortly be asking staff to nominate another worthwhile cause to which staff members throughout the company can relate.
When the selection process is complete, the committee will then take up the challenges of enthusing the participants in new fundraising ventures, maintaining the fundraising momentum built up over the last two years, and engaging VSG staff who work in the field so that they too can take part and feel involved.
For further information please telephone VSG on 01604 744014 or email: [email protected].
