Coats : raises thousands of pounds for Save the Children

Coats raises thousands of pounds for Save the Children

• 29 Jul 2021

Employees across Coats walked, ran, skipped and crafted their way to success in a variety of individual and team challenges to raise £18,000 for this important cause. The total amount raised by employees was matched by Coats which meant a grand total of £36,000.

Rajiv Sharma, Group Chief Executive, said: 'This charity challenge has been a win win, not only have we been able to raise money for this very noble cause but our employees have worked together to focus on something positive and, in many cases, complete a challenge that enhanced their own mental and physical wellbeing.'

Helen Slee, Regional Fundraising and Engagement Manager, Save The Children, said: 'This is a fantastic effort from the Coats team. £36,000 can go a long way to giving children a better future. For example it could pay for the delivery of 36,000 face masks; provide 20 community and facility based health workers with personal protective equipment; provide more than 1,000 children with education supplies; or provide 15 days worth of food support for over 1,300 of the most vulnerable children and their families in India. On behalf of Save the Children, a big thank you.'

In 2019 Coats launched its Sustainability Strategy setting out seven ambitious targets to achieve by 2022 in five priority areas. One of those five areas is Social which focuses on providing safe and sustainable workplaces and communities. The prosperity of our business is closely aligned to the health and well-being of the communities in which we work and connecting with communities through fundraising initiatives brings positive benefits to the engagement of our employees.

For more than 250 years Coats has been working to support local communities in the countries in which it operates and this fundraising initiative is the most recent example of this. One of the earliest examples is from the 1880s when Coats opened the Ferguslie Half-time School. It could accommodate 400 young workers who were paid full time wages but only worked half a day. They spent the remaining balance of their working time at school. The school functioned until 1904 when full time education became compulsory.

ENDS