At Transport for the North, we’re committed to helping raise the profiles of the charity groups we support and working across our teams to make a difference where we can, to the lives of others.
“We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.” – Sir Winston Churchill
According to Cambridge Dictionary, the word ‘charity’ means “a system of giving money, food, or help free to those who are in need because they are ill, poor, or have no home, or any organisation that has the purpose of providing money or helping in this way”.
The International Day of Charity on 5 September, also known as World Charity Day, was declared by the United Nations General Assembly in 2012. This date was chosen because it is the anniversary of the death of Mother Teresa, who worked tirelessly to overcome poverty, distress and suffering of the poorest people in the world.
International Day of Charity serves to increase social responsibility amongst us all and encourage support for charitable causes or activities through events, volunteering or donations.
As an organisation that realises the importance of charitable giving, we have a dedicated Charity Committee, who organise events that help fundraise for our two corporate charities – Centrepoint and Transaid. From bake sales and quizzes, to the sweet jar challenge and dress down days, the list goes on. For us it’s the right thing to do as every charitable donation, no matter how small, makes an impact.
“We chose to fundraise for these two charities due to the nature of the good work that they carry out,” explained Andrea Shepherd, a member of Transport for the North’s Charity Committee.
“Transaid was an obvious one due to its link to transport – transforming lives through safe, available and sustainable transport throughout Africa. The charity was founded by Save the Children and The Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT). The aim is to solve transport challenges in economically developing countries – they ensure professional driver training, improve transport management systems and provide rural access to transport and to vital services such as healthcare.
“Centrepoint is a national organisation that provides homeless young people with accommodation, health support and life skills in order to get them back into education, training and employment. The youth of today are our future and it is so important to be able to support them when help is needed.”
Transport for the North has been working with and raising money for Transaid and Centrepoint for almost two years now, and towards the end of 2020 we will be opening nominations from colleagues for which two charities we will support for 2021 and 2022.
“It means a lot to me to work for an organisation that recognises, supports and shows Corporate Social Responsibility,” Andrea added.
“I personally love knowing that we are making a difference.”
Through fundraising we are doing our bit to help these charities raise awareness about the excellent work they do, despite often challenging conditions, to transform, empower, and positively changes thousands of lives.
Let’s all remember that giving is receiving, and generosity is contagious.