A national fundraising scheme called Pennies from Heaven has given WCC a Gold award at its annual award ceremony in recognition for fundraising benefitting local hospices in the county.
The award was announced on Monday 22 March and Warwickshire County Council is one of 19 Gold winners across the UK with other winners including ALDI UK and Barclays Bank. The Council was successful due to over 20% of their staff donating through the scheme.
The Pennies from Heaven scheme allows employees to choose to donate any pennies on their payslip to a designated charity. Warwickshire County Council has over 900 people donating their pennies on a regular basis and employees selected the Mary Ann Evans Hospice in Nuneaton and The Myton Hospices in Coventry, Warwick and Rugby as the recipients for their fundraising.
Rob Powell, Strategic Director for Resources at Warwickshire County Council said: “I am delighted to hear this news and it is a remarkable achievement for our staff and organisation. This just shows that small actions can make a world of difference and through our staff choosing to donate their pennies, they are able to support extremely worthwhile causes locally such as the chosen hospices. Their commitment to supporting these causes through a tough 2020 and 2021 is inspiring.”
Since the scheme began in 2006, Warwickshire County Council fundraisers have raised over £366,000 with no more than 99p being donated per person per pay period.
Kate Frost, CEO Pennies from Heaven, said: “Congratulations to Warwickshire County Council and all our 2021 winners who have shown real passion to continue supporting their charities throughout the pandemic. I have been blown away by the number of employers wanting to do more in 2020 and the increased take-up rates of Pennies from Heaven show that the people want to do the same.”
A full list of winners can be found here: https://www.penniesfromheaven.co.uk/news_stories/the-winners-of-the-2021-awards-are-announced/