KIND colleagues across the VetPartners family have raised £32,796 for a charity that brings peace of mind and practical help to the elderly and terminally ill.
Colleagues across VetPartners’ UK veterinary practices, animal health businesses and central support team threw themselves into fundraising for their 2022 charity of the year, The Cinnamon Trust.
Through a variety of activities, from bake sales and raffles to sky diving, scaling mountains or running ultra-marathons, they raised £14,612, and VetPartners matched the amount from its charity fund, as well as donating £1 for every colleague who completed an employee engagement survey.
The incredible fundraising efforts of UK team members from the veterinary group, which owns practices all over Europe, has come as a major boost to the work of The Cinnamon Trust as the charity annually supports around 40,000 people, including elderly and terminally ill owners, and their pets.
Among the spectacular fundraising activities, Ashbrook Equine Hospital clinical director Roger Dixon (main picture) and Kinfauns Vets vet Danny Hawkins both completed sky dives, jumping out of planes at more than 10,000 feet.
Team members from St Peter’s Vets completed a 50k trail run, right.
The Biobest laboratory team pushed the boat out by dressing as pirates and paddle-boarding to complete our 5k challenge, below.
Now VetPartners’ UK employees have selected Gambia Horse and Donkey Trust (GHDT) as their charity for 2023 and are aiming to repeat their amazing fundraising efforts.
Dr Hannah James, VetPartners Head of Environment, Social and Governance (ESG), said: “Our colleagues are so enthusiastic about supporting our chosen charities and it has been incredible to see the ways in which they have raised money.
“The veterinary world is very caring and people love giving back to worthy causes. The fundraising activities also bring everyone together as a team and people enjoy challenging themselves.
“From personal experience in their role, our teams have experience of seeing ill or elderly people worrying about looking after their pets, so The Cinnamon Trust really touched their hearts.”
VetPartners voted to support Gambia Horse and Donkey Trust when colleagues were invited to choose their 2023 charity.
The aim of the GHDT is to reduce rural poverty in The Gambia through improving health, welfare and productivity of all animals, and working animals in particular.
It runs educational programmes in schools, teaching equine care and welfare. As well as providing veterinary treatment, the GHDT also provides training for local people so they can support their own communities with professional skills, such as farriers, harness makers and para-vets.
Hannah added: “What really appealed to everyone is that the GHDT helps both animals and humans as a lot of people in The Gambia rely on animals for their livelihoods. A lot of our equine vets feel passionate about the work of the charity, but the GHDT also helps small animals through their neutering clinics, which makes it appealing to many of our small animal team members.”
For media enquiries, please contact Amanda Little, VetPartners PR and Communications Director. Email amanda.little@vetpartners.co.uk