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Bath Building Society has had a record response to voting turnout for its AGM, expected to result in a substantial donation to Dorothy House Hospice Care. Every year, the society encourages its members to vote on the composition of the board, and to receive the report and accounts. For every feedback form received, BBS donates 30p to Dorothy House.
As a small and local building society, BBS aims to support the local community in which it operates, and has an active programme of support well under way for 2009, including the annual Charity Awards scheme.
Dick Jenkins, chief executive of Bath Building Society, said: "The society is well known for being 'closer to our customers', and one way we try to do this is through supporting community groups, charities and initiatives in the local area. Dorothy House provides such an important service for thousands of people in and around Bath every year and we're delighted to be able to offer our support."
Katrina Sudbury, director of fundraising at Dorothy House, said: "We really appreciate the regular support we receive from Bath Building Society. The NHS only funds about 30 per cent of our costs, so we need to raise about £3.5 million a year to keep on caring for more than 800 patients and their families every day. We receive no funding from national charities like Macmillan and Marie Curie towards the cost of providing nursing care in people's own homes, so the generous support of businesses in our community is absolutely vital."
For more info on Bath Building Society and their services, visit the Bath Building Society website.
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The Home Office recently announced a grant programme designed to get
small and medium sized companies to set up payroll giving schemes. We
will be encouraging local companies to implement the scheme to persuade
their staff to make a monthly donation from their salary before tax.
The benefits are clear, but many companies still don't offer this simple
and tax effective method of giving to their staff. Now with these new
financial incentives there are no excuses. Depending on its size, a
company will receive a grant of up to £500 to set up a scheme
and the government will match each donation (up to £10) made by
employees for the first six months. As any payroll giving donation is
made before the PAYE tax is calculated, donations cost employees less.
An individual's donation of £5 per month would only cost £3.90,
ie. the cost of one lunch once a month, as the taxman would pay the
rest. With Home Office matching, this £3.90 is worth £10
to Dorothy House. For more information we have devised a simple guide
to payroll giving and Phillipa Watson would welcome the chance to meet
your company to talk about the benefits and how to put a scheme in place.
Alternatively, log onto to www.payrollgivinggrants.org.uk
for more details.
Giving through your pay is one of the best ways you can help. GAYE allows
employees to give a tax-free amount to charity on a regular basis directly
from their salary. And it gets better! So when you give £3.90
per month Dorothy House receives £5.00. If you're a higher rate
taxpayer then it only costs you £3.00!
To find out how easy it is to give contact the fundraising department
on 01225 721480
Pyjama parties, cycle rides, horse-less team events, marathons, sponsored
silences and custard pie throwing are just a few events that companies
have run to raise money. Come up with your own whacky ideas to have
fun or contact Phillippa Watson or Yvonne Brunton in fundraising on 01225 722988.
Many companies will match the money that their employees have raised
for charity. Lana Mackrell raised the highest sponsorship money for
the Girls on Top driving challenge -and that was before she got
matched funding from her employers - Rotork, in Bath. She raised
£268 and with matched giving, the grand total of £536 goes
towards patient care at Dorothy House Hospice Care.
