Finders International has chosen the main charities we wish to support in 2023 across the UK and Ireland offices.
Our Social and Charity Committee organised a vote for employees to choose the causes they most wanted to contribute to this year and selected two themes – the environment and bereavement.
Our chosen charities are Friends of the Earth and Child Bereavement UK.
Friends of the Earth
Friends of the Earth has been campaigning for people and the planet since 1971. It has about 130 local groups in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and more than 260 climate action groups.
The groups bring people together to make their communities more climate friendly and fight against climate-damaging projects. Their first campaign in 1971 was to return thousands of empty bottles to the London HQ of Cadbury Schweppes, to promote re-use and better use of the planet’s resources.
In 1994, the organisation used a series of billboards to highlight the problem of acid rain. Leading the UK’s first campaign on acid rain, Friends of the Earth persuaded the government to accept the need to cut the emissions responsible.
One of their ongoing campaigns is also aimed at protecting the UK’s bees. The British bee population is in trouble, with 35 species under the threat of extinction. A decline in bees’ diversity and abundance would have serious impacts on how the natural world, including crops, functions.
Pesticides are on the key threats and Friends of the Earth has a petition asking the UK government to reduce pesticides and make the countryside safer for wildlife.
Child Bereavement UK
Child Bereavement UK helps families to rebuild their lives when a child grieves or when a child dies. It supports children and young people (up to the age of 25) when someone important to them has died or is not expected to live, and parents and the wider family when a baby or child of any age dies or is dying.
The charity offers free, confidential bereavement support for individuals, couples, children, young people, and families, by telephone, video or instant messenger, wherever they live in the UK. It also offers face-to-face support from some locations.
Finders International plans to host a fundraisers and events to help raise money and awareness for all the charities throughout the year. We will also be including donations for winners of its prize draws at events and will continue to donate money for every feedback form we receive.