In October 2011, Liz Warner was selected by Virgin Atlantic to take part in a fund raising trip to Kenya. Along with 13 others, she raised money from friends, family and clients to fund the building of a new classroom. What she didn’t realise until the whole group arrived in Kenya was how much of the classroom they were actually building themselves! When she managed to get off the tools, she saw first hand how small changes make big differences.
Things we take for granted like water, food, education and healthcare are facilities not available to everyone. This lack of availability creates issues for the generation with lack of water and clothing etc. The next generations suffer due to the lack of adequate healthcare and education that doesn’t allow these cycles to be broken.
The whole group came back realizing they had been through a life changing experience. They have now undertaken to sponsor a girl throughout her school life.
As a business we took on board the lessons Liz learnt. Where we previously used ad hoc giving as many businesses do, we refocused and aligned ourselves with B1G1 (Buy1GIVE1). B1G1 is a global initiative with over 600 projects currently underway that have generated more than 22 million acts of giving. The aim of B1G1 is to provide the systems, structure and inspiration to turn our world into a world full of giving and to create a much happier world as a direct result.
B1G1 gives businesses the power to change our lives.
Paul Dunn, the chairman, explains here how B1G1 came into being in his own unique manner
We use our partnership with B1G1 to give when we provide services for clients.
For example, when you use our Xero, our Cloud Accounting software to help build your business, we give bricks to build a classroom in Kenya. When you sign or renew a Fixed Price Agreement with ourselves to provide the continuity of our support to you and your business, we provide water for 300 people in Kenya.
