Corporate & Government

Home > News Extra> Corporate & Government

Kicking off Brazil fundraising drive

Wednesday July 16th 2008.   Posted: 09:30

BT president EMEA & Latin America, Luis Alvarez, centre, meets students and the head teacher on a visit to the EMF Presidente Campos Sales Escolar in Sao Paulo to celebrate the launch of Inspiring Young Minds Brazil

Jose Antonio Martinez, from BT Spain, is just one of the many BT Global Services people who have been supporting Inspiring Young Minds Brazil by playing the online fundraising game Kick Off Brazil.  

And for Jose there was the added reward of winning a pair of tickets as part of an exclusive hospitality package for last month’s Euro 2008 football tournament in return for making a donation to UNICEF, BT’s global charity partner. He won the chance to see the joint hosts, Austria, play Croatia in Vienna.

Inspiring Young Minds Brazil is part of BT’s three-year partnership with UNICEF which sees an investment of £1.5 million in bringing education, technology and communications skills to children in South Africa, Brazil and China.

Kick Off Brazil is the first phase of a year-long fundraising drive for Inspiring Young Minds Brazil, raising funds for projects in three Brazilian cities which use sport as a means to support and engage with disadvantaged young people.

The online game is just one of the initiatives that are supporting the children’s charity. Right across BT, from Australia to the Americas, funds are being raised in all sorts of ways.

Account manager Scott Adams, based in Hong Kong, has pledged to raise £1,000 for Inspiring Young Minds Brazil through a sponsored slim as part of a local health initiative called Fit for Summer, while BT people in Singapore are holding the Great BT Singapore Garage Sale on 25 July to raise funds.

BT Netherlands is in the process of producing an Inspiring Young Minds song, working with a music company for employees to download and make a donation, and plans are in place to top the funds raised during last year’s Cross Channel Challenge yacht race when this year’s teams set sail in July.

Julie Sanders, BT's global charity programmes manager, said: “The response to Inspiring Young Minds Brazil has been fantastic.

“Within the first few weeks alone, over £12,000 has been raised by BT people towards the £140,000 fundraising target for the year. This is on top of donations made to BT’s two emergency appeals to help recovery efforts in Burma and China.

“The generosity and commitment of BT people to these good causes is really second to none.”

To find out more about Inspiring Young Minds Brazil and the many ways in which BT people can get involved, visit the IYM Brazil website.

Information provider: Group Communications

Review date: 16/07/09