Independent Growth Finance is dedicated to being a proactive and productive member of its community.
Here at IGF, we are dedicated to helping the charities that matter most to our employees. Our donations continue to increase year on year thanks to our fundraising efforts and matched giving schemes to our employees’ favourite charities. We continue to seek out new ways to give as a group and to help employees who give their valuable time and money to causes close to them.
Our staff charities
We know that charity awareness and support are important to our employees, and we want them to feel supported when they give to charity, so we asked them who our group charity partners should be. Of our quarterly collections, half is donated to IGF’s nominated local charity, St Matthews Food Bank in Redhill, and half donated to a charity of staff nomination. Staff nominated charities this year are…
- Q1 June 23: Champion Chanzige
- Q2 September 23 Hastings & Bexhill Mencap Society
The charity undertakes projects in Tanzania, East Africa aimed at improving education and opportunities for children and young people, but also assisting the wider community and engaging local support for ongoing works.
Projects undertaken in the last eight years include the provision of rainwater harvesting systems for schools, various classroom renovations, two new libraries, provision of PC’s, and renovation of a community centre for Kisaware.
More recently the charity set up kitchen gardens for schools and communities and small-scale chicken farms, providing a source of food and/or income and give the opportunity for those involved to learn valuable life skills.
There has also been focus on girls’ and women’s rights and menstrual hygiene – several workshops have been run, talking to the girls about their rights, awareness on sexual and reproductive health, avoiding early childhood pregnancy and marriage, and general menstrual hygiene.
Hastings & Bexhill Mencap Society is a local, self-funding charity who work to ensure that people with learning disabilities are valued members of the community. Most funding is generated from the charity shop in St Leonards on Sea and the organisation is run by a group of dedicated volunteers.
They have been operating for over 60 years and now offer day services, residential homes, arts projects, and social clubs. The charity also has a network of support for parents and carers and hold monthly carers lunches and an annual carer outing.
Active Arts is a performing and visual arts course for adults with learning disabilities run by the Mencap Society in Bexhill & Hastings. It includes musical theatre, dance, art and design, comedy and drama improvisation, all if which is showcased in an end of year performance.
The charity is currently raising money to extend their building and increase the services they can provide. The extension of their current premises is to include a large performing arts space, a visual arts studio, an accessible lift, and outside recreational space.
Other fundraising activities:
- April: donation of Easter Eggs to St Matthews Food Bank in Redhill
- September: Support of Steve Moore’s fundraising for Macmillan Cancer Support (images to be forward)
- October: Coffee Morning for Macmillan Cancer Support
- December: donation of Christmas goodies to St Matthews Food Bank in Redhill
Ukraine
In addition to supporting our two main charity partners, IGF made a significant contribution to the Ukraine crisis via UNHCR: Partnered with UNICEF working specifically with refugees
UNHCR is urgently upscaling relief operations across Ukraine and in neighbouring countries to support fleeing civilians. Urgent needs include shelter, relief items such as blankets, and specialist protection – all rely on voluntary donations.
Our Communities
By allowing our activity to be staff led, it means that our CSR activities are more closely aligned with our purpose and values as a business. Meanwhile, our collective efforts yield significant and meaningful benefits to the communities in which we operate, allowing us to engage in otherwise overlooked causes and grassroots projects.
