APR Charity Day 2018
A record sum of £10,738 was raised this year through the APR Charitable Initiative on 30th October. More participants than ever before took part – 22 APR staff, 3 contractors and the 3 APR partners – suggesting perhaps some correlation between these two results.
The idea behind the initiative is simple: staff sacrifice 50% of their day’s salary while APR donates the full amount of the client fee received for that day. This money is then distributed to a group of charities nominated by APR staff, which this year comprised Red Cross Syria, Sightsavers, British Heart Foundation, Oceana and Sing Inside. Brief details of these charities are included below, as well as links to their websites if you’d like to find out more or donate.
Aristotle once said of charity, ‘…to give away money is an easy matter…’, and this certainly holds true for this scheme. Rather than undertaking some physical endeavour and going around canvassing sponsors, which invariably limits numbers of participants, staff simply had to sign up to the scheme and turn up to work. If the principle of effective altruism inspires you, consider how your employer might support you, whether it’s matching donations, or allowing you to spend ‘1% of your time’ on a cause that you believe in.
The British Red Cross Syria Appeal has been providing humanitarian support and relief to those affected and displaced by the fighting in Syria since the war started in 2011.
Sightsavers are an international charity working to prevent avoidable blindness, support equality for people with disabilities and advocate for change.
Sing Inside use music and performing arts as a rehabilitative activity for inmates by conducting choral workshops in prisons around the UK.
The British Heart Foundation is a leading authority and provider of funding for research, education and care in circulatory diseases and their risk factors.
Oceana are a global ocean conservation and advocacy organisation - since 2001 they have protected more than 4.5 million square miles of ocean.
Sid Prabhu-Naik
November 2018
