A Norwich business has raised more than £12,000 in its first year working with a charity for the elderly.
ReAssure, a life and pensions company based at Aviva's offices in Surrey Street, agreed to support Age UK in late 2016 for three years.
Since then, the company
has organised a variety of fundraising events, ranging
from summer parties to a
skydive.
Director Steve Shore said he wanted to create a legacy from his company's involvement with the charity.
'This link is really working well for us, as a business, as well as for Age UK - which is an excellent charity - and I'd encourage other companies to get involved in this kind of fund-raising,' he said.
'Few issues are more important, right now, than those around loneliness and our increasing older population. And I know that £5 raised will, for example, pay for someone to spend an hour having a friendly chat with an elderly person who might otherwise not see anyone all week.'
When businesses and other organisations - including this newspaper - last year launched a Dementia Action Alliance, pledging concrete action to help make Norwich a dementia friendly city, ReAssure was among the founder members.
Over its three sites, the company has now trained more than 500 staff as Dementia Friends, including more than 300 in Norwich.
Mr Shore said the charity was chosen partly because staff like to see how the money will make a difference, but also because it offered a chance of hands-on involvement.
As well as fund-raising themselves, staff have stepped forward to act as volunteers, most recently helping at the Camra Winter Beer Festival at St Andrew's Hall.
Meanwhile, ReAssure staff are well on their way with a challenge to 'walk to the Moon', taking part in individual sponsored walking, cycling and swimming challenges to notch up a total 384,400 km between them.
Age UK chief executive Susan Ringwood said: 'The funds raised support a range of services including information and advice.
'In a time of austerity, with
all charities experiencing a squeeze in funding from
central and local government, corporate fund-raising in something we very much want to develop.'
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