Following the launch of the 2019 Business Data Partners CSR programme, we want to introduce the four charities BDP is supporting in London, Edinburgh, Chester and Leeds.
Throughout March and April, we will be publishing four blogs written by our regional CSR reps. These will provide a spotlight on each charity supported by the Business Data Partners CSR programme. You can find our other charity intro blogs here.
Our final region is Leeds, introducing their charity partner Age UK Leeds. To give us an overview of the charity and their plans for the year is Chris Charles, who along with Yasmin Motara, make up the BDP Chester CSR reps.
Why did you choose to become a BDP CSR rep?
I’ve dabbled with a few fundraising efforts previously but I’ve always wanted to try and make a more concerted effort to help the local community and take on some interesting challenges and activities in the process!
Tell us about the charity you have chosen to work with
Age UK Leeds are a local subdivision of the national Age UK charity. They support the elderly throughout Leeds and the surrounding area via 4 main channels – Advocacy, Information & Advice, Independence at Home, and Ageing Well. They have numerous activities and initiatives within these areas that provide support to many vulnerable elderly people. Age UK Leeds outlines below why the work they do is so vital:
Why Age UK Leeds?
Yasmin and I spoke to the rest of the Leeds office and we decided we wanted to help out those who were vulnerable in their old age, with a focus on keeping it local if possible. We then started researching charitis in our region that would allow us to achieve this.
It was an easy decision to choose Age UK Leeds once we’d spoken to Lisa at the charity. We liked the idea that we were local and wanted to do our bit to help out; especially given the great services offered and the fact that many donations were perhaps being lost to the more widely known national charity Age UK. No funding filters down from the national charity meaning some of their hard work was being lost to other initiatives.
Some of their initiatives also fit in with our IT backgrounds, so we can offer help and support in ways beyond simply fundraising, which was also an important, contributing factor.
What are your goals and what activites do you have planned for 2019?
We are looking to support their Digital Inclusion initiative directly by both fundraising and volunteering. This is essentially a drop in or home visit tech support session.
There is currently a £10k funding gap that we would like to go some way to bridge to allow this to continue.
How can others help?
If you’re around Leeds, then by participating in events and raising awareness as well as helping us reach our fundraising target! Keep an eye out for calls to action over the coming months.
If you’d like to learn more about Age UK Leeds or how you can support them directly, head to their website and reach out to the fundraising and volunteering team.
