Charity
BGC Charity Day 2006
On Monday 11th September, BGC hosted its 2nd Annual Charity Day in all its worldwide offices.
Hosted in Canary Wharf, celebrities from stage, screen and sport joined HRH the Princess Royal to support the fundraising efforts.
Staff and celebrities were joined by children from the various charities that were being supported on the day. The highlight for many of the children was participating in a cricket clinic with Australian and English giants Shane Warne and Freddie Flintoff, which took place in Canada Square Park in the heart of Canary Wharf.
There were nine nominated UK charities in 2006:
- The Bobby Moore Fund
- Chase
- Chance to Shine
- Demelza Hous
- The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award
- Honeypot
- Save the Children
- The Shane Warne Foundation
- Winston's Wish
The fifth anniversary of the September 11th tragedy was also marked at BGC offices in New York. Here BGC hosted a variety of different celebrities on their 2nd Annual Charity day which included a number of famous sporting heroes. The legendary New York Giants quarterback Phil Simms, New York Giants Billy Ard and Harry Cason, and Louisville Cardinals coach Rick Pitino were all present to help raise money. In addition, world famous supermodel Petra Nemcova and New York Yankees manager Joe Torre came along prior to the charity day to begin to raise awareness for the charities involved. Their presence electrified the trading floor on the day and helped to make the day a truly successful one.
There were five main nominated US charities in 2006:
The Bobby Moore Fund
The Bobby Moore Fund for Cancer Research UK raises money for research into bowel cancer. The Fund was set up in memory of Stephanie Moore's late husband, footballer Bobby Moore OBE, in partnership with Cancer Research UK in 1993. Bobby Moore sadly died from bowel cancer aged just 51. Funds are spent on high-quality bowel cancer research carried out by leading scientists working across the UK. To date, we have funded 15 Bobby Moore Research Fellowships and a new bowel cancer laboratory at St Mark's Hospital, London.
The Children’s Hospice Service - CHASE
CHASE Children's Hospice Service supports children who, through severe illness, are not expected to reach their 19th birthday. We give children and their familess care and support so that their lives can be as comfortable as possible. The CHASE care network covers Surrey, South-West London and some of West Sussex. CHASE will support families at all stages of the journey, from the day their child is diagnosed with a life-limiting condition, through to bereavement and beyond. It is a relationship that can last for many years and is vital to the wellbeing of all those affected- without it, many families would find it difficult to cope. We offer this crucial service to the families 24 hours a day, every day of the year, free of charge. We help in whatever way is needed, emotionally or practically, at the child’s home or at Christopher's. This children’s hospice, opened in November 2001, is purpose built to provide a "home from home". Families can stay here, or let the CHASE team look after their child whilst they take a much needed break.
Chance to Shine
The Ashes successes of last year created huge national interest and pushed cricket on to the front pages. Both the England teams - led by Michael Vaughan and Clare Connor - performed brilliantly. Their achievements made us proud and gave cricket a major boost.
England's world-class performers – like Andrew Flintoff, Andrew Strauss and Matthew Hoggard – are role models for young people. But many more of those young people should be playing the game as well as admiring it from afar. Cricket is special - it plays a unique role in education because it demands both individual and collective responsibility. It reaches across boundaries of gender, race and class, offering opportunities to all – if given the chance.
But there’s simply not enough competitive cricket played in state schools. Fewer than 10% offer opportunities to play cricket regularly. Youngsters miss out on the chance to learn. The future health of cricket and of the nation suffers. Chance to Shine, established by the independent charity, the Cricket Foundation, will give many more young people the opportunity to flourish through cricket at school.
Demelza Hospice Care for Children
Demelza House is the only children's residential hospice in Kent, East Sussex and South London providing a wide range of services to life-limited children. Within the Demelza family, it offers short residential breaks and day care at Demelza House, hospice at home care at Demelza-James and their Child project in South London aims to build a new six-bedded hospice in Eltham.
Demelza House Children's Hospice aims to provide support to families who have a child with a life limiting condition. It recognises that each child is a unique, developing individual whose best interests must be paramount.
The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award
One day any young person aged between 14 and 25 who wants to do the Award will be able to do so. The Award aims to be universally recognised and widely adopted as the best programme for the personal development of young people, with a mission which is committed to providing for young people an enjoyable, challenging and rewarding programme of personal development, which is of the highest quality and the widest reach.
Their goal is to strengthen the Award by continuing to broaden and extend its reach to the many communities that comprise contemporary United Kingdom.
The Duke of Edinburgh's Award is a registered charity and relies on the generous support of volunteers, Operating Authorities and businesses to meet its commitment to help all young people realise their full potential.
Honeypot
Honeypot is a charity dedicated to improving the quality of life for severely disadvantaged children.
The Honeypot relationship with each individual child begins with a respite break at the Honeypot House in the beautiful New Forest and continues with a comprehensive programme of long- term support within their home environment. Their aim is to give children the chance to have a normal childhood. The Honeypot house opened its doors to children in April 1998, and now welcomes over 672 children each year.
Honeypot supports children who are living in severe financial or emotional hardship or are the primary carer of a sick relative. In many cases the children are on the Child Protection Register.
Save The Children
Save the Children fights for children in the UK and around the world. They work with children who suffer from poverty, disease, injustice and violence to find lifelong answers to the problems they face.
On 12th September Save the Children launched a global challenge to change the lives of millions of children who are not able to access quality education because they live in countries affected by conflict. All children have the right to a good education, whatever their circumstances. Education in a crisis provides children with protection and stability. As an alliance Save the Children hopes to raise $450 million for this campaign by 2010.
Save the Children was founded in 1919, as a response to conditions in Europe immediately following the First World War. Since this time it has grown into a Global organisation that caters to the needs of children affected by war, famine and natural disasters.
The Shane Warne Foundation
Shane Warne receives countless requests from charities every year. Each year, despite his personal and professional commitments, he manages to make time to respond to many of these. Such involvement has helped Shane come to a realisation of the type of organisation he shares the greatest affinity with: those that help bring some quality into the lives of seriously ill and underprivileged children.
The following are just some of the organisations Shane has contributed to over the last few years; whether it be his time, financially, or by bringing joy to the lives of the children involved: Challenge Kids With Cancer; The Make A Wish Foundation; Starlite Foundation; Beth’s Legacy; Red Nose Day; Trevor Barker Foundation; Variety Club; Melbourne Royal Children’s Hospital.
Through this experience, Shane has also come to realise that although he can make a difference on his own, he could have a far greater impact on the lives of the children, and the fortunes of the charities involved, through the involvement of a group of like-minded people. Hence, The Shane Warne Foundation was born.
Winston’s Wish
Winston's Wish helps bereaved children and young people rebuild their lives after a family death. It offers practical support and guidance to families, professionals and anyone concerned about a grieving child as we know that the death of someone important can have a devastating effect on a young person.
Winston’s Wish provides support for bereaved children and young people up to the age of 18. Its also supports their parents or carers. Whether the death was sudden or expected, it works closely with children and families, in a variety of practical and creative ways, to create an atmosphere where they can share their thoughts and feelings and meet others.
Safe at Home Foundation
The Safe At Home Foundation’s mission is to end domestic violence and ensure a safe home environment for children. Established by New York Yankees Manager Joe Torre, himself a victim of domestic abuse, the crusade to end domestic abuse and violence is fought tirelessly by the Foundation through increasing public awareness, education and programs such as Margaret’s Place and Community Players.
Margaret’s Place, named in honor of Joe’s mother, is a comprehensive, in-school domestic abuse support program. In some middle and high schools, a “safe” room has been created that is staffed with a trained counsellor. Here, students can safely discuss what they are experiencing or what they have witnessed. The program also provides individual and group counselling and interactive classroom workshops. Community Players reaches out to the organizations which are usually first respondents to domestic abuse, and works with them to educate, train, and prepare them to help end domestic abuse.
Daniel Pitino Foundation
The Daniel Pitino Foundation was organized by Joanne and Rick Pitino on May 9, 1994, to memorialize and honour their infant son, Daniel, who died in 1987 at the age of 6 months. The Foundation's mission is to benefit underprivileged children and other charitable causes as may be selected by its Board of Directors.
The Foundation distributes all or a substantial portion of its net proceeds from fundraising activities on an annual basis. In recent years, at the discretion of the Board of Directors, grants have been made by the Foundation to other charitable organizations. Since May of 1994, the foundation has raised $5,392,281.00.
Happy Hearts
As a direct result of the 2004 Tsunami, Czech supermodel Petra Nemcova founded Happy Hearts to aid children affected by natural, economic or health related disasters. Happy Hearts partners with Give2Asia and other organizations and donors to provide both immediate assistance and long term support to surviving children of disasters so that they can lead healthy, happy lives.
Happy Hearts has supported physical programs such as the rebuilding of schools, providing basic necessities such as mattresses, school uniforms, school dormitories, rebuilding schools and orphan aid. On the emotional front, Happy Hearts supports programs to help children address the psychological portion of rebuilding their lives, without parents or perhaps even siblings.
Minority Athletes Networking ETC
MAN is committed to making a difference in the lives of the youth in our community, through scholarship and mentorship. MAN seeks to bring educational, social and workforce development opportunities to these communities. The core of the activities is centred on a continuum of learning, academic and personal success, and leadership development.
Founded in 1989 by former NY Giants football players Ron Johnson, Terry Jackson, and George Martin, their intention was to use the positive impact of professional athletes in local communities to teach inner city youth, by example and through athletics, the values of persistence, hard work and commitment, and how these values can be transferred to everyday life, and to making one’s life better.
Marine Corporation Foundation for Children
MC-LEF supports the children of U.S. Marines and law enforcement personnel who have been killed while serving their country either at home or abroad through scholarships for higher education. The Foundation also provides special medical equipment or tutoring assistance to the children of fallen Marines who are afflicted with mental or physical disabilities, when insurance does not cover those costs.
MC-LEF was founded in 1995 by former Marines and law enforcement agents who strongly believe the United States’ most precious resource is its youth. They support myriad other law enforcement organizations as well and, since 1995, have dispensed $25 million in scholarship funds to eligible children. One hundred percent of the donations received go to funding programs for the children MC-LEF serves, and no administrative cost is charged to the Foundation.
Getting Involved
BGC selects a number of charities to support each year. Your organisation could be next. To apply for support on our next Annual Charity Day, please submit an application in writing to:
charity@bgcpartners.com