Charity of the Year
Each year, Scottish Women in Business adopts a charity, nominated by members and selected by its President in consultation with committee members. At each event, a donation of £1 per attendee is added to the total to be donated to the charity at the end of the year.
Charity 2011-12
SWIB's charity for 2011-12 is the Emma Cameron Foundation, established in Glasgow this summer after Emma died of cancer aged 11. It was created to make a difference to the lives of children and their families after a child has been diagnosed with cancer. Emma was a bright, bubbly and brave child who lived life to the full and even attended school (including an outdoor education camp) until just 10 days before she died. Her father (her mother died of cancer when she was small) and sister want to help other families as they have seen at first hand what can bring a smile to an ill child, what can make going to school easier and what can make life easier for the whole family.
The Foundation is actively working with care providers and has identified vital services that are not available for paediatric patients that would be available for adults. It is hoped it will be able to help fund these as well as many other projects. As it is a small charity, the money and awareness provided by SWIB would make a huge difference to help the Foundation grow and make a difference to lots of children and their families.
For more information please see the Foundation's website and a newspaper cutting. You are also invited to Like their Facebook page!
If you have any ideas on how SWIB can raise money for the Foundation, please let us know using the Contact form.
Previous years
The charity chosen for 2010-11 was the Cure and Review Recording Service. For as little as 70p per week membership, blind and partially sighted people are able to access a range of newspapers and magazines. The charity also provides an invaluable service in transcribing documents, government literature into audio formats. Since 1985 over 600 long-term unemployed, able bodied and disabled people have benefited from work experience with the charity. During the year, SWIB raised £1346 for Cue & Review.
Previous recipients have included Glasgow Children's Holiday Scheme, Marie Curie Cancer Care’s Big Build Appeal, the Parkinson's Disease Society, Yorkhill Children's Foundation, CRY, Maggie Centre and Sense.
Choosing the Charity of the Year
In recent years, SWIB has invited nominations from members for charities to be considered as its Charity of the Year. This process will be adopted again for 2011-12.
Nominations can only be submitted by SWIB members. Nominations are not open until summer 2012. At that time, they should be emailed to SWIB's Vice President by the date announced in SWIB's newsletter. They should be about 200 words explaining why the nominated charity should be supported by SWIB. Supporting brochures, reports or flyers with additional information about the charity can also be attached. All submissions will be considered by the committee and the chosen charity will be announced in October 2012. As was the case this year, it is likely that there will be a preference to support a small charity with a local connection to Glasgow.
