A team of Santander employees from Plymouth put their running shoes on for a good cause when they took on the Santander Flame Relay challenge earlier this week.
Led by the bank's director of strategy and corporate development, Joaquin Alzamora, 17 members of staff took part in the challenge which saw them run a 10 kilometre circuit of the harbour. The route saw them start at Hoe Park, run down to Devil’s Point and finished at the Mayflower Steps. This is one leg of a total journey stretching over 1,600 miles which started with teams simultaneously setting off from the bank’s sites in Belfast and Jersey on the 6th June and due to finish in Milton Keynes 12 days later.
The Plymouth team hope to contribute £1,000 to the total fundraising from their leg on 7th June. This is the third year the Santander Flame Relay has taken place, events in 2012 and 2014 raised a total of £200,000. This year will see 325 employees take on a variety of modes of transport, including barges, bikes and kayaks. The journey will connect over 30 of the bank’s UK sites, visiting many more branches along the way, to arrive at its head office in Milton Keynes on 17th June.
Team Leader Joaquin Alzamora, director of strategy and corporate development at Santander, commented: "The atmosphere has been fantastic in the run up to this year’s Flame Relay and we’ve had a great time raising money and awareness for Santander’s charity partners."
Laurie Boult, Head of Fundraising at Age UK commented: "The Flame Relay is a fantastic challenge and we wish all Santander employees who are taking part the very best of luck. The money raised for Age UK will help us to provide vital support and companionship to older people in communities across the country; people who might otherwise have no one to turn to."
Allan McLaren, Barnardo’s Deputy Director of Fundraising said: "A massive thank you to everyone taking part in Santander’s Flame Relay. Every young person wants to have the chance to reach the top, which is why our work is so important helping disadvantaged young people have the confidence and skills to get back into employment."
Following an all-staff vote, Age UK and Barnardo’s were selected to form a collaborative partnership with the bank as part of its new community investment strategy, The Discovery Project.
Over the course of 2016 Santander is supporting a host of fundraising activities for the two charities, including a “Store Wars” initiative, an International Challenge, and a number of branch and staff events. The bank aims to provide funding of up to £1.5m for each charity over the course of three years through a combined fundraising and grant programme.
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About Santander
The Discovery Project
- The Discovery Project brings together Santander UK’s current community investment programmes including Santander Universities, MoneyWise, WorkWise, Community Days, Breakthrough, SEDA and the Charity of the Year scheme.
- New initiatives in development include FutureWise, a schools programme to help children explore the future with confidence, Discovery Labs, a series of short films looking at the big issues impacting the world and SME Apprenticeships, to help small businesses access young talent.
- The programme aims to help 1 million people over five years from 2016-2020.
Santander UK
Santander UK is a financial services provider in the UK that offers a wide range of personal and commercial financial products and services. It has brought real competition to the UK, through its 1|2|3 products for retail customers and relationship banking model for UK SMEs. As at 31 December 2015, Santander UK was one of the most switched to banks. The bank serves more than 14 million active customers with c. 20,000 employees and operates through 857 branches and 70 regional Corporate Business Centres. Santander UK is subject to the full supervision of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) in the UK. Santander UK plc customers are protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) in the UK.
Age UK
We work with our national partners, Age Scotland, Age Cymru and Age NI and our local Age UK partners in England (together the Age UK Family). We also work internationally for people in later life as a member of the DEC and with our sister charity Help Age International.
Age UK believes that everyone should have the opportunity to make the most of later life, whatever their circumstances. We provide free information, advice and support to over six million people; commercial products and services to over one million customers; and research and campaign on the issues that matter to people in later life. Our work focuses on five key areas: money matters, health and well-being, home and care, work and training and leisure and lifestyle.
Age UK is a charitable company limited by guarantee and registered in England (registered charity number 1128267 and company number 6825798). Age Concern England and Help the Aged (both registered charities), and their trading and other associated companies merged on the 1st April 2009. Together they have formed the Age UK Group (“we”). Charitable services are offered through Age UK and commercial products are offered by the Charity’s trading companies, which donate their net profits to Age UK (the Charity).
Barnardo’s
Barnardo’s is marking its 150th anniversary in 2016. Thomas Barnardo’s vision was for no child to be turned away from the help they need. During its 150 year history the charity has helped transform the lives of millions of disadvantaged children in the UK, and continues to help families to build a better future.
Last year 240,000 children, young people and families were supported by Barnardo’s through more than 960 services across the UK, such as young carers, care leavers, foster carers and adoptive parents, training and skills or parenting classes.
Visit www.barnardos.org.uk to find out more. Registered charity No. 216250 and SC037605. Follow Barnardo’s media team on Twitter @BarnardosNews