Graduates at Welsh financial services company Admiral have raised more than £30,000 as part of their ongoing Challenge Admiral fundraising scheme, which saw the group plan a fundraising campaign for The Wallich and British Heart Foundation.
Admiral’s graduate scheme has been running since 2006 and sees enthusiastic new colleagues take part in a fundraising challenge every year, testing their creativity, resilience, and collaboration skills, all while carrying out placement rotations across a variety of business areas.
Due to the pandemic, the group were the first to rely solely on remote fundraising, and funds were raised in a variety of different ways including a Grand Prize Draw raffle, pet photo competitions, and online gaming tournaments, to name a few. On top of this, the group put on their walking shoes to go from Newport to Cardiff, which took place over seven gruelling hours.
On top of benefitting the charities, the graduates also found the fundraising hugely rewarding and it provided them with multiple development opportunities.
Leigh Manley, Admiral’s Graduate Programme Manager, said:
“Challenge Admiral proved itself to be a winning concept once again in 2021 – a partnership approach that sees Admiral grads innovating to develop entrepreneurship, leadership, and a host of other soft skills relevant to the workplace, while providing financial support for charities doing outstanding work in Wales.”
With 340,000 people in Wales living with the daily burden of heart and circulatory diseases, the split donation will be a huge help towards research for BHF.
Nikki James, Area Fundraising Manager for BHF Cymru, added:
“A huge thank you to the 2021 graduates at Admiral. They showed such commitment and enthusiasm during challenging times. At the BHF, we rely solely on donations to fund our ground-breaking research that will get us closer than ever to a world free from the fear of heart and circulatory diseases. A world where people affected by heart and circulatory diseases get the support they need. And a world of cures and treatments we can’t even imagine today.”
The split donation will also help fund projects such as The Wallich’s Reflections Network, which provided 5,139 hours of mental health counselling for those experiencing homelessness last year alone.
Mike Walmsley, The Wallich’s Fundraising and Community Engagement Manager, said:
“The Wallich will use the vital funds raised to continue offering specialist support to people experiencing homelessness and trauma in Wales. Almost 70% of people we help have reported a mental health challenge which directly contributes to or prolongs their homelessness. We are hugely grateful to the team at Admiral for their fantastic achievements and for doing something about homelessness.”
Admiral remains committed to supporting local communities and worthy causes with new initiatives set to launch in 2022.
