Employee fundraising
At Alliance Boots we firmly believe in the importance and value of helping good causes. This conviction is consistent with our identity and who we are as an organisation. Our people are encouraged to support and raise money for local and national charities. Whenever they give up their time and make the effort to raise funds, we try and support their generosity as much as we can.
Supporting generosity
Within the Group, we have a long history of championing charitable activities. For example, we have made it easier for our employees to give generously by introducing payroll giving schemes for all our employees in the UK. This provides a simple, tax-efficient way for them to make donations on a regular basis.
The Boots UK ‘Make The Difference’ initiative is a way in which to boost the funds raised by employees, whereby employees who have raised money for charity can apply for matched funding from Boots UK, up to a maximum of £500. During 2008/09 we made contributions of just under £120,000 via this scheme.
Alliance Healthcare Czech Republic’s support for project Klokánek
Since 2005, Alliance Healthcare Czech Republic, our principal pharmaceutical wholesaling business in the Czech Republic, has been supporting the Klokánek (little kangaroo) project, which provides pioneering foster care for neglected, abused or orphaned children. The project was launched by Fond ohrožených dětí (The Fund for Children in Need), a Czech charity, and supported by independent pharmacies who help co-ordinate charity collections. In 2007, we set a target to raise sufficient funds to build a refuge house in Chomutov in the north west of the Czech Republic. This target is on track to be reached by 2010. Earlier this year, The Fund for Children in Need supported by Alliance Healthcare Czech Republic launched an art competition for children in central Bohemia. A shortlist of winning entries was showcased at an exhibition in the Czech House of Parliament, and the three winning pictures auctioned at a gala benefit concert in June 2009 in Prague to support the charity.
Leonard Cheshire Disability
Within our Pharmaceutical Wholesale Division, we have had a long association with Leonard Cheshire Disability in the UK. During 2008/09, we donated around £40,000 to the charity, which supports over 21,000 disabled people. Our people organised a number of fundraising events, which included seven of our team completing an 84 mile trek along Hadrian’s Wall over a four day period to raise over £6,000 and Richard Polley, an automat engineer, cycling from London to Paris to raise £1,100.
Award-winning
Marie Nevin, our facilities manager for our pharmaceutical wholesale business in the UK, was awarded the Best Workplace Travel Plan Co-ordinator 2008 prize in the Sustainable Travel Awards organised by Kingston Council in partnership with the Kingston Guardian, a local newspaper. Alliance Healthcare (Distribution) has hosted and funded a cyclists’ breakfast and Business Working Group breakfast meetings at its Chessington office in the UK. Marie also arranged for our premises to be used for a Cycle 50% Club bike trial provided by Kingston Council for Alliance Healthcare (Distribution) and its two neighbouring companies.
Alliance Healthcare España's award-winning Actúa Ahora campaign
In Spain, Actúa Ahora (Act Now) is the name of our campaign to make sustainability a part of everyday working life by promoting a proactive corporate social responsibility action among employees each month. For example, in July 2008 our business ran the 'Ãfrica Dibuja' campaign, raising money from the sale of pictures drawn by children from Gambo Hospital in Ethiopia to rebuild their hospital pharmacy. In November 2008, the business organised a clothes collection for the local Zaragoza shelter. Also, in March 2009, our Spanish business again supported Farmacéuticos Sin Fronteras (Pharmacists without Frontiers) in its x-ray collection and mercury thermometer disposal campaign. The funds resulting from the extraction of silver and mercury are donated to charity projects. In recognition of its continued efforts, Actúa Ahora received the Best Initiatives 2008 prize in the corporate social responsibility category from Correo Farmacéutico, Spain's leading weekly trade publication for the pharmaceutical sector.
