Employee fundraising

Charity partnerships

In 2010/11 significant funds were raised by our people across the country in support of our national charity partners, Macmillan Cancer Support and BBC Children in Need. The first year of the partnership with Macmillan provided a great opportunity to engage our colleagues in a cause that really matters to them and their families and over £900,000 has been raised by our people. During 2011/12 we are continuing to support our people to raise funds for these two great charities.

Make the difference fund

As well as supporting Boots UK charity partnerships with fundraising, our people raise money for a wide range of organisations that have personal relevance to them or their communities – either at work or in their spare time.

Our people can boost their donation to charity by applying for matched funding from Boots UK's ‘Make The Difference Fund’. Fundraisers can claim up to £500 of matched funding. During 2010/11 we made contributions of over £167,000 via the scheme.

Give as you earn

Through our Give As You Earn (GAYE) scheme, our people can donate directly from their salaries to the charities they care about. At the end of 2010/11, over 2,500 colleagues were giving regularly to a charity of their choice in this way.

The Boots Benevolent Fund

The Boots Benevolent Fund is a registered charity which provides financial help and support to serving and retired colleagues who are unexpectedly experiencing financial hardship. The Benny Fund is open to all Boots colleagues in the UK. It aims to help when unexpected events happen and our people are faced with homelessness, debts involving bailiffs, large utility bill arrears or essential living requirements where our people are facing financial hardship. The Benny Fund annually supports about 600-800 people with grants and loans, which amounted to £147,415 in 2010/11.