Thursday 2 July 2020

A retail finance company in Cardiff has donated £3,553 to the Wales Air Ambulance as the charity has had a personal impact on the lives of several colleagues.

Every year, V12 Retail Finance, who employ 220 staff, coordinate activities to help raise funds for local good causes and charities.

They have previously helped up to four charities in a given year, however, in 2020 they decided to focus on one main charity – Wales Air Ambulance.

Reflecting on the importance of the donation, the company’s Finance Director Eliot Grant said: “As a business, we have always encouraged staff fundraising activities to help local good causes and charities, and a few years ago set up a Charity Committee to coordinate such activities. For 2020 we decided to focus on one main charity.  Wales Air Ambulance has had a personal impact on the lives of several V12 colleagues and was selected as our nominated charity by our staff through an online survey and vote.”  

The staff started their fundraising at the beginning of the year through dress down days and cake bakes, which raised £1,628 up to mid-March. Due to the current restrictions of Covid-19, they have been unable to organise fundraising activities or collect staff donations.

Speaking of the difficulty of fundraising during the pandemic, Eliot added: “We made a business decision to continue to support Wales Air Ambulance through a company donation rather than from our staff.  We donated £3,553 to Wales Air Ambulance in early May, which was £1,628 staff donations and £1,925 company donation. I also understand that several individuals undertook a range of challenges which raised money through fundraising websites which were paid directly to the Charity.

“The business and its staff feel it is very important to support local charities and good causes and will continue to do so going forwards.”

Mark Stevens, the Charity’s South Wales Fundraising Manager, said: “It’s humbling to know that Wales Air Ambulance was able to make a personal difference to several people within V12 Retail Finance. Through the fun of fundraising, it is important to remember that the money raised has a lifesaving purpose. That is why I send my heartfelt thanks to everybody at the company for supporting our charity. Their efforts will have a significant impact on lives across Wales.”

V12 Retail Finance provides unsecured lending products to customers through its retail partners to facilitate the purchase of a wide range of consumer products. Such as furniture, jewellery, cycles and sports equipment - across in-store, mail order and online channels.