Behind the numbers in 2014: National charity partnership

Target:
Raise £300,000 for Scope, the pan-disability charity, through our national charity partnership.

How we did:
We supported Scope in a variety of ways. Our staff raised £28,789 and Virgin Media supported Scope through five projects with a £417,000 donation.

The detail:
At Virgin Media, we’re making it our mission to ensure all our customers and employees can live truly independent digital lives. We want our products and services to be fully accessible and enjoyable for everyone – including those who live with disabilities and the people who support them.

We’ve partnered with Scope since 2013, when they supported the work we were undertaking to enhance the online experience of our disabled customers. In 2014, some of our highlights from our partnership with Scope include:

• Virgin Media funded a range of projects including Scope’s national helpline, their charity shop expansion, and equipping their schools for disabled children with complex needs  
• Engaging Virgin Media employees through Scope’s Shop Challenge – a fundraising and volunteering opportunity. 15 Virgin Media teams took part, donated over 275 bags of stock for Scope’s charity shops and raised £9,000.
• Scope spoke at the Virgin Media People team annual conference, where we presented Scope’s End the Awkward advertising campaign and gave tips on helping to ‘end the awkward’ in the workplace.

One in four people live with a disabled family member in the UK. Disabled people are one of the most disadvantaged groups in society; they’re more likely to live in poverty, be excluded and are at risk of depression and family breakdown.  We’ve achieved some great things to tackle these challenges by working together, but we’ve only scratched the surface of what’s possible. So, we’re pleased to say that we’ve renewed our partnership with Scope and will continue to work with them through to 2017.

Find out how we'll be working with Scope on our new Transforming Lives goal, here.