Duncan Bannatyne urges UK businesses to Gear up for Giving

Aug. 20, 2008 - PRLog -- Duncan Bannatyne, Dragon’s Den star is supporting the Geared for Giving Campaign.  

This campaign launched by Anne Snelgrove MP at the House of Commons is calling on all UK employers to introduce or re-launch their Workplace Giving schemes that allow their employees to give to their chosen charity straight from their pay.

Companies in the media sector are joining the campaign to give 1 million more employees access to the scheme.  The Geared for Giving challenge has been taken up by Haymarket Media Group, Leo Burnett, Freemantle Media, Associated Newspapers Ltd, Dennis Publishing , Guardian News & Media, Gyro International to name but a few.

It is estimated that charities currently lose up to £900 million every year* through inefficient giving.  Giving directly from the pay packet ensures that the tax element of any donation goes to the charity automatically.  This scheme is especially efficient for higher rate tax payers.

Duncan Bannatyne said; “I’m signing up my companies to Workplace Giving and I’m hoping my 3,000 employees will be as enthusiastic as I am about the scheme.  To be able to give charities an extra £900 million a year at no extra cost to yourself, the question you should be asking is not, why would you do this, it’s why wouldn’t you?”

Ian Ashcroft, HR Director of the Haymarket Media Group said; “Over 25% of our employees have signed up to this scheme since we launched it 12 months ago and through their giving, they support over 200 individual charities. We are delighted to further encourage them by adding £1 to every £2 they donate, and the total is of course finally enhanced by a further donation from the government. The administrative aspect is truly minimal, so I ask the same question as Duncan – Why on earth wouldn’t you promote the scheme?!!”

There is no cost to set up the scheme, three pieces of paperwork and companies already running Workplace Giving have said that it takes them less than 10 minutes per month to administer.
For further information on Geared for Giving, please visit www.gearedforgiving.com  or contact the helpline on 020 8731 5871.

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*Source: www.charitydata.org



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