Every year at Christmas, Empower foregoes the usual hampers and gifts that get exchanged between colleagues, agencies and clients.
Instead, we give our team control to select the recipients of £1,000 of charitable donations, which means those causes end up being close to our team’s hearts.
We’re proud to say this tops contributes to an overall total of £4,000 donated by Empower to charity in 2022, including £500 to the UK’s food bank charity The Trussell Trust, and £250 to the UN Refugee Agency’s Ukraine appeal.
All employees can make a personal donation of £200 to a charity of their choice as the year ends too.
In 2021, we chose to donate to Alike, Black Minds Matter, Frank Charles Give a Gift Appeal, and Battersea Befriending Network.
Read on for more background on each charity and why the Empower team chose to support each of them.
In this article:
1. Crisis
With the cost-of-living crisis deepening as the seasons change, many people find their homes and their security are no longer guaranteed, and are forced to choose between food on the table, or warmth in their homes.
Crisis continues to do crucial work across the UK with people experiencing homelessness and offers year-round education, employment, housing and wellbeing services.
2. Stop.Breathe.Think
Stop.Breathe.Think is a small charity that provides free and fast 1-2-1 mental health counselling services for young people during the most crucial formative years of their lives, with a particular focus on those from lower socioeconomic backgrounds.
With match funding from the BA Better World Community Fund, our donation this year will have twice the impact.
3. Friends of the Earth
Friends of the Earth is famous for its advocacy programmes that focus on environmental issues within social, political and human rights contexts. It is a multinational network, but our donation will be to the UK branch of Friends of the Earth.
In the light of the ongoing energy crisis, Friends of the Earth have been campaigning to tackle the problem at its root and bring warm homes that don’t cost the earth to the UK.
4. Second Shot Coffee
Second Shot Coffee is a cafe based in London that doubles as a social enterprise that trains, employs, and supports people affected by homelessness. With barista training, these people can go on to further employment in other cafes and establishments.
Second Shot Coffee strive to endorse small grassroots organisations across the UK where we can, where their charity donations can have the biggest impact.
5. Breadwinners
Breadwinners is a charity organisation similar to Second Shot Coffee that creates three employability programmes for young refugees and asylum seekers in the UK.
Refugees face many barriers when looking for work in the UK: lack of in-country experience and connections, legal constraints, as well as bias and discrimination against refugees.
Learning to bake bread and work on the Breadwinners market stalls across the UK brings them real, valuable experience that they can use to find further employment.
6. St. David’s Hospice
St. David’s Hospice based just outside of Cardiff in South Wales is a firm favourite with the Empower team They provide free and comprehensive palliative care service of excellence across the area.
Caring for a loved one can mean taking time out from work and other responsibilities with little in the way of financial aid – something which is especially difficult during the cost of living crisis.
We care about purpose-led organisations and since 2014 we have been enabling charities and non-profits to use the digital tools needed to create and communicate positive change.
We’re proud to also be able to put some of our hard earned funds back into the hands of the causes our team cares about most.
