STAFF at Praxis Group have raised more than £450 just by donating their loose change.
Matched by the directors of the group to raise the total to over £900, the collection was prompted by South African colleague, Matthew Nell, who is returning this summer to Cape Town to become associate director of business development.
Whilst in his new role, Matt’s girlfriend Katrin Rubin will be volunteering at the South African charity, the Village of Hope and Praxis’ staff in Guernsey were keen to help the couple raise money for this extremely emotive cause.
Cape Town has an HIV infection rate of over 34% and possibly the highest Tuberculosis infection rate in the world. The government is under equipped to cope with the overwhelming amount of chronic and terminally ill patients which prompted the setting up of Village of Hope, a specialised step down facility.
Catering for nine children at a time, the Village of Hope is part of a wider initiative, the Thembalitsha Foundation, which provides much needed additional support to HIV+ children that are well enough to enter the adoption process.
The firm’s fundraising initiative, ‘Praxis Pennies’, began when Mr Nell realised how much his own coppers had grown and decided to ask directors if they would be happy to place a penny collection jar in each department.
Mr Nell said, “It’s been almost a month since the jars were put out and the response from everyone has been fantastic. Staff have been donating five pounds at a time and some have even brought their penny jars from home to add to the collection. It has turned out to be quite competitive with various departments monitoring who has raised the most.”
Simon Thornton, managing director at Praxis Group said that they were only too pleased to match the funds everyone had raised.
“Donating your pennies is such a simple but very effective way of raising money and it was great to see so much support from all the team. We wish Matthew and Katrin well and hope that this relatively small donation will help make a difference to The Village of Hope,” he said.
For more information on the Village of Hope or to donate to the work of the Thembalitsha Foundation, please visit http://www.thembalitsha.org.za
