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BGL Group made a lifetime patron of the NSPCC

Immediate release: 12 July 2010

The BGL Group has been made a 'Lifetime Patron' by the NSPCC, in the culmination of a two-year relationship which saw the Group raise an amazing £210,000 for the charity.

The accolade positions BGL as one of just 85 corporates to have achieved Patron status in the charity's 120-year history. It marks companies that have raised more than £100,000 for the NSPCC in a year. Representatives from the BGL Group were presented with a commemorative certificate at an event in London.

The NSPCC was chosen by BGL staff as the company's charity partner for a two-year period in 2008 as part of the Group's commitment to donate £1 million to worthwhile causes by 2012. The original fundraising target was £100,000, but the final total reached in March this year beat this target by more than double.

One major fundraising event that brought in a staggering £104,000 – and accounted for nearly half the final total – was a nine-day, 80km trek. In February 2010, 23 BGL employees journeyed across the Cedarberg Wilderness in South Africa in a heatwave, which saw temperatures reach 45 degrees C.

Staff from BGL's offices around the UK have also pitched in with a huge variety of fundraising events over the two-year period, including a London-to-Paris cycle ride (£3,000 raised); a 630-mile bike marathon (£5,000 raised); a football tournament (£2,200 raised); an Awards Ball (£7,000 raised) and a 28-strong team completing the gruelling Three Peaks Challenge, raising a further £22,000.

Jon O'Neill, Corporate Fundraising Manager for the NSPCC, said: "The BGL Group is an exceptional organisation and by raising more than £100,000 in the last 12 months, it is now an NSPCC 'lifetime patron' which only 85 corporates have ever achieved in our 120-year history. Its fundraising has been phenomenal and it's important for us to recognise that. We'd like to thank BGL sincerely for its contribution to the important work that the NSPCC does in helping vulnerable children."

BGL Group has appointed two new corporate charity partnerships for 2010-12, with a target of £250,000 to be raised for Marie Curie Cancer Care and £100,000 for WWF-UK. Both charities were again chosen by BGL employees.