Did you know that every time someone books a stay with us at St Milburga Chapel, they are directing contributing to charity? As a business, we commit to donating 10% of our profits each year to the Ten Percent Foundation. The Ten Percent Foundation was established in 2002. The foundation ensures that 10% of all profits from our businesses are donated to charities in the UK and Global South. Since it was established, more than £213,000 has been donated to over 100 charities.
The Foundation was created because the Directors of the Ten Percent Group of companies (of which St Milburga Chapel is part of) believe that businesses across the world can make a huge difference to the welfare of billions of people by promoting philanthropy, either through donating to charities themselves, encouraging employees and their clients to donate to charities, or through volunteering work. Many well-known companies commit to doing this already including brands such as Patagonia, Tony’s Chocolonely and Pukka Teas to name a few. We hope that by setting an example we can encourage other businesses to do the same.
Guests, staff and service users across our companies are encouraged to nominate charities and small organisations that they feel should be considered in the yearly donations. Through careful research, the charities are handpicked to allow the donations to have the maximum impact. Charities donated to tend to be smaller-sized, focusing on specific projects with minimal overhead costs.
One of the charities that recently received donations from the Ten Percent Foundation was the Cure Parkinson’s Trust. Cure Parkinson’s is a charity that funds research into slowing, stopping or reversing Parkinson’s, through the funding of clinical trials. With the help of the £1000 donation from the Ten Percent Foundation, the charity is running an International Linked Clinical Trials initiative, which will bring together experts from around the world to review potential drugs to be included in future clinical trials.
Another of the charities supported by the foundation is Headway Derby. Set up but the parents of a brain injury survivor after their own experiences, this small charity offers support to over 18s who have been affected by a brain injury. We recently provided a £500 donation which will be used to help fund their community rehabilitation programme including running of peer support groups and offering community outreach services.
Overall, the Ten Percent Foundation supports some fantastic charities with a variety of focuses, from curing diseases, supporting children and adults in need to reducing poverty in the Global South. The money donated to these charities includes 10% of the profits from St Milburga Chapel, so by booking a holiday at the cottage, you are also directly donating to charity and improving the lives of people across the UK and beyond.
More information can be found at: https://tenpercentfoundation.org/ including contact details if you would like to nominate a charity to be considered in next year’s nominations.