Giving to charity is a very personal choice, usually influenced by experience, values and circumstances. It can be an emotive subject that attracts judgment and may even serve well to be added to the list of things that we are warned not to discuss – so I will attempt to navigate the topic sensitively. The title is of course ‘Charity in the workplace’ and so hopefully I have less of a chance of offending anyone.
It is often easy to get submerged in everyday life and forget that there are many people that don’t have the luxury of worrying about fitting in a coffee before their next meeting or finishing work on time to get to the gym (although both scenarios still important!). Their worries may be more centred around how they will feed their family this week, how they will afford the medicine their child needs or where they will sleep tonight… Knowing this and not doing anything about it just doesn’t sit well with me.
As an individual, charity is important to me, although most close friends wouldn’t actually know who I support, as I said, it is personal! It was therefore only natural to want to build this into the company vision but choose something that was aligned to the service we provide at Fusion Pharma and, where we felt we could make the biggest impact. Professionally, it is also something I am much more willing to shout about and shamelessly plug for support.
Charity is often associated with donating money, but it can also be in the form of donating time, offering expertise or simply showing support by sharing details of upcoming events. The number of charities is reflective on the number of people that really care about making lives easier for others. Equally however, we seem to be constantly bombarded – walking down the high street, multiple sponsor requests, social media posts and even the popular new concept of crowd-funding. It can feel overwhelming to have to decide who to support.
Why is it different in the workplace… well, I guess it isn’t on the whole, however the choice of charity may be more aligned to the type of work the business provides or the people it provides the service to. Where it isn’t immediately obvious it’s interesting to ask about the background, you’ll often hear that it’s related to how a valued team member passed away. Many companies choose not to support a charity – this is also fine!!
As a leader and employer I continue to build a business that stands to make a difference, one that is not limited to our clients. I want the team to feel part of something bigger and be involved in activities that give a wider purpose while at work. Everyone that joins the team at Fusion absolutely has the personality to make this difference. It also gives great opportunities to encourage creativity and team bonding.
After much research into potential charities we came across Inter Care and it didn’t take long before we decided to make it official!
If you have been following us, you will have probably seen us talking about Inter Care, who send targeted medical aid to rural health units in some of the poorest parts of Africa. The charity works closely with health units to provide health care goods and medicines that would otherwise have been medical waste in the UK, mostly provided by Pharmaceutical companies, drug manufacturers and Health Care Professionals. They receive no government funding and rely entirely on voluntary donations.
Our relationship started in 2019 when I drove to Leicester to meet the team, learn more about the charity and have a tour of their warehouse. It was truly inspirational to see all the volunteers selflessly giving up their time to help people they’ll never meet up to 5,000 miles away.
At Fusion we provide support to Inter Care both through regular monetary donations and by being on standby to provide Regulatory and Quality expertise when needed. We have regular meetings and like to share their news to promote them.
The team at Inter Care are dedicated individuals who are making a difference and can feel proud of their achievements. The team, past and present have sourced, packed and distributed 16.5 million pounds worth of medical aid since they were founded in 1974 and have reached a catchment of 11 million people.
We are very proud to be supporting Inter Care and will continue to shout about them.
As the team and our capacity continue to grow, the company vision includes taking on a second and final charity. We will be choosing one a little closer to home by supporting a charity that directly benefits the local community, also giving us an opportunity to be more hands on in person. When the time is right we will decide as a team and shamelessly promote it.