Baxter Healthcare completes 2 year ‘Charity of the Year’ partnership
For the last 2 years, Baxter Healthcare have been supporting Penny Brohn UK as their Charity of the Year. With employees from sites across the UK and Ireland taking part in various fundraising activities to raise vital funds for those living with cancer. Internal Communications Lead, Carey Byrne, recently sat down with us to talk through their experience of supporting Penny Brohn UK while working in a hybrid model.
Why did you choose Penny Brohn UK as your charity partner?
We always tried to adopt an approach of having a single Charity of the Year across the company. We’re a big organisation, with 1300 employees in the UK. We’ve had employees request sponsorship in the past for their own individual fundraising efforts, but it’s really difficult for us to be able to sponsor everyone. So, by appointing a Charity of the Year it helps to channel all of our efforts towards one common goal.
We include our employees in the decision-making process, to help us decide which organisation we’ll be supporting. Early in the process I asked individuals to submit a charity that they want to support and share why it was important to them. We received a very long list and whittled that down to a shortlist for voting by our UKI council made up of our leadership team. So many of the charities that were nominated, people had a personal connection with – whether they had received support for themselves or their family. Quite a few people nominated Penny Brohn UK so it was clear the mission of the charity resonated with our teams. So many of us have a personal connection to cancer whether friends, families or other colleagues.
Can you tell us a little bit about your fundraising activities to date?
We operate a hybrid model of working with multiple teams including commercial and manufacturing. This makes fundraising across the organisation a little more difficult as we need activities that people could access remotely.
We held virtual escape rooms that people could enter into as teams, which provided opportunities for team bonding. We also held a 12 Days of Christmas raffle for 2 years running – because who doesn’t love a good raffle? We also gave everyone the option to donate their Christmas voucher in 2023 to Penny Brohn UK and a fair number of employees chose to do this.
We did also find opportunities for some face-to-face fundraising. We held a Race Night at our Sales Conference, where employees were given the option to bet on virtual races. It was a really fun opportunity for employees to enjoy themselves while making a difference.
In September 2023, 15 employees came together to take on the Snowdon at Sunrise challenge. Weather-wise it was a pretty terrible day, the views were invisible as we were completely surrounded by thick cloud. But the motivation was high as we raised £3,000 from that challenge alone!
One of our Technical Services team, Steve Meers, took on the incredible Everest Basecamp climb in March 2023. So many colleagues sponsored Steve as he took on such a phenomenal feat.
It was hard to keep everyone motivated over 24 months, but it was all worth it as in the end we managed to raise a whopping £14,000!
What’s the most rewarding thing about supporting a charity in this way?
I think knowing that it’s an organisation that could ultimately give back to our employees eventually, whether directly or not. So many people can resonate with cancer through both family, friends and also their own personal stories. It’s nice knowing that if any of our employees were in need, that there would be a service like Penny Brohn UK available to them.
All of the funds that we’ve raised will go directly toward supporting those currently living with cancer across the UK, providing them with personalised cancer care.
What would you say to other companies who were thinking about supporting Penny Brohn UK?
It’s a no-brainer from lots of different perspectives. It gives employees an avenue to do something good that they might not be able to get round to doing outside of work due to family, time commitments etc. It’s obviously really helpful for team building activities, providing them with an outlet for fun, away from the stress of work.
We’ve got so many different functions/teams across Baxter that normally would never have any reason to cross paths. But supporting a charity truly brings people together from a different perspective and we have loved every moment of supporting Penny Brohn UK together.
We can’t thank everyone at Baxter Healthcare enough for their incredible dedication, time and effort donated to Penny Brohn UK over the last 2 years, and we’re pleased to report that they raised over £15,325 through their various activities.
Could you make Penny Brohn UK your Charity of the Year?
If your team is looking for a Charity of the Year for 2024, then look no further! Our Corporate team will support you and your employees with any fundraising you have in mind; whether taking on a challenge as a group, coming up with your own fundraising activity or if you’re interested in opportunities to volunteer.
Get in touch with the team today by emailing fundraising@pennybrohn.org.uk and find out how you can support those living with cancer over the next 12 months (or longer!).
We’d like to thank Carey and Baxter Healthcare for sharing their experience. The words used are preferred by Baxter Healthcare. Penny Brohn UK encourages everyone to use their own words to tell their story. If you have any questions about any of the language used, please email comms@pennybrohn.org.uk.