BUPA pledges millions to help charities Worldwide
BUPA has pledged to help make a difference to people's health with one of the biggest corporate donations of its kind.
BUPA is giving £9million to health related charities around the world in a new charitable initiative to celebrate turning 60 next year. BUPA, recently shown by the BITC to be one of the UK's most generous companies, will donate £9 million over the next three years to charitable causes working in the areas of health education, research and care.
Last year BUPA donated 2.86 percent* of its pre-tax profits to charity and community investment. As well as cash, this included donations in kind and time given to voluntary work by the company's employees. This was well above the 0.79 percent of their pre-tax profits that the average FTSE 100 companies gave.
Almost £1million has already been pledged for projects that do work in the areas of palliative and dementia care.
These projects include:
The Dementia Relief Trust (now known as For Dementia) - Dementia pioneers and Admiral Nurses are specialist dementia nurses, working in the community with family carers and people with dementia, providing educational interventions, emotional and practical support and skill development, with the aim of maintaining and/or improving quality of life. The aim of the project is to build capacity in Admiral Nursing by developing new Admiral Nurse posts in communities not at present served by this specialist mental health nursing discipline.
Institute of Complex Neuro-disability at the Royal Hospital for Neuro-Disability - This bid, led by Dr Keith Andrews director of the Royal Hospital for Neuro-disability (Putney), is to develop nursing for people with complex neurological disabilities in residential care.
Help the Aged - My home life - The 'My Home Life' programme is a new and exciting initiative which brings together the research community, care home providers, managers and residents to help deliver practical, accessible tools to assist the care home sector in supporting older care home residents to optimise their quality of life.
Other projects that BUPA Giving will support include:
· research into the eating habits of young people
· the provision of surplus medical equipment to Eastern Europe and Africa
· improving facilities at an Ecuadorian orphanage to help shelter 150 children from the volcanic eruption earlier this year
Val Gooding, Chief Executive of BUPA said: "BUPA Giving is a great way to celebrate BUPA's 60th Anniversary. We believe that being socially responsible is a vital part of any successful business and are proud of the role we play in our local communities. Our charitable and community activities have been proven to benefit staff morale, the communities in which we operate and it builds trust in our brand."
BUPA Giving complements BUPA's existing charitable initiatives which include:
· The BUPA Foundation, an independent charity that finances research into prevention, relief and cure of sickness and ill health.
· The Sanitas Foundation, which promotes research and medical education in Spain through grants, medical awards and seminars.
· The IHI Children's Foundation, run through its base in Copenhagen, raises funds to reduce child poverty around the world.
· BUPA Community Connections, which fund match employee charitable donations and encourages employee volunteering in local projects.
BUPA celebrates its 60th Anniversary in 2007. The company was set up in 1947 when a group of provident associations joined together to form the British United Provident Association.
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