Lincoln-based marketing and design agency, Purple Robot has chosen a new charity of the year after raising £1,750 for NOFAS-UK in 2018.
Each year, the Purple Robot team chooses a charity which they support through a series of fundraising activities throughout the year.
In 2018, the company’s Charity of the Year was NOFAS-UK, which supports children, carers and adults affected by foetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD), a charity close to the heart of Managing Director, Damien Howard-Pask.
At the end of 2018, the team had raised a total of £1,750 for the charity.
In June, Creative Consultant, Wayne Thornton braved the summer heatwave to complete a 100 mile cycling challenge and in November, Digital Marketing Executive Ross Pepper and Damien Howard-Pask strutted their stuff in a 12-hour 80s danceathon. As well as this, the team held a series of sweepstakes and ran other fundraising appeals to support the charity.
Sandra Butcher, Chief Executive of NOFAS-UK said: “We were absolutely blown away by the creativity, dedication and sheer energy our friends at Purple Robot Marketing and Design brought to their fundraising efforts this year on behalf of NOFAS-UK. The heart and the commitment behind their activities has touched the lives of many and the generosity of all those who contributed throughout the year gives great hope that together we can change things. Thank you, thank you, thank you.”
“The UK is starting to wake up to the hidden public health crisis caused by the impact of alcohol in pregnancy. Researchers at Bristol and Cardiff Universities reported that somewhere between 6-17% of the population showed signs of Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders…. We need more outreach, more awareness and more research because this lifelong organic brain damage is preventable.”
For 2019, Purple Robot’s Charity of the Year is the ChILD Lung Foundation; a charity that’s important to the team because Creative Consultant Wayne Thornton’s daughter was diagnosed with a form a lung disease early last year.
Wayne, who leads the company’s charitable ventures said: “One of the great things about this company is its commitment to supporting people in our society and doing the right thing. After a really successful year raising money for NOFAS-UK, I’m really proud and excited that we’re supporting ChILD Lung Foundation.
“Of course, while we’ll be dipping into our own pockets and doing more and more ridiculous challenges to raise money, we’d be nowhere without the support and sponsorship of Lincoln’s business community. I’d like to thank every one of the people and businesses that supported our Charity of the Year in 2018 and we’re looking forward to sharing some of our fundraising antics with you over the next 12 months. We’ll be extremely grateful for every penny that you choose to donate for this very worthy cause.”
Wayne’s 100 mile cycle challenge saw him cycling around Lincolnshire as part of the C2C2C charity ride, cycling past 14 former RAF Bomber Command sites to commemorate the RAF’s centenary. Wayne managed to complete the circuit in six hours and 31 minutes during one of the two hottest summers on record.
Damien and Ross’ charity danceathon saw the duo take over the Lincolnshire Chamber of Commerce boardroom for 12 hours of dancing to 80s hits alongside Samantha Pover from Stokes Coffee and friend and supporter, Chantelle Ince. Complete with tiled dancefloor, inflatable guitars and sparkling glitter, the team raised more than £1,300.
Having recently taken on a fourth member of the team – Digital Marketing Apprentice, Olly Kenyon – Purple Robot hope that they’ll be able to raise even more money in the year ahead with even more fundraising challenges in the calendar.
You can follow their progress by visiting: www.purplerobot.co.uk or following the team on Twitter, Facebook and Linkedin where you’ll find information on their upcoming appeals and information on how to donate.
You can find out more about the ChILD Lung Foundation at: www.childlungfoundation.org and NOFAS-UK at: www.nofas-uk.org.
