QBE offers lifeline to underrepresented charities in latest round of charitable giving and releases more support from its Covid-19 resilience fund
The latest round of funding by the QBE Foundation has seen smaller underrepresented charities receive vital grants that will be used to support LGBT+ people with disabilities, victims of modern slavery, refugees, asylum seekers and BAME groups, as well people affected by negative coping strategies such as addiction and self-harm.
The diverse group of smaller charities includes Their Voice, The Bike Project, Afghanistan and central Asian association, African Caribbean Achievement Project, Coventry Rape and Sexual Abuse Centre, Carers UK, Queen Alexandra College and Show Racism the Red Card.
Grant Clemence, Chair of QBE European Operations Foundation, said: “We wanted to give a contribution to charities where we could make a meaningful difference, especially in areas and covering issues where we have not had a chance to previously offer support. We continue to work with our larger charitable partners but we really welcomed this opportunity to work with such a diverse group of smaller charities who will really benefit from the support of the QBE Foundation.”
QBE returns to support previous partners
In addition, the QBE Foundation has given two one-off grants to support previous charity partners Little Havens Hospice and The Sick Children’s Trust. Both charities were annual partners for the Foundation (in 2013 and 2015 respectively).
Covid-19 response continues
In April, the Foundation pledged to commit £400,000 to the COVID-19 response. Part of the funds went to supporting its current charity partners Crisis and Mind, as well as and Global Disaster Relief partners Red Cross and Save the Children. £100,000 of that pledge was set aside for was a COVID-19 resilience fund.
The Foundation has now identified the charities who will receive a donation from the resilience fund, including Action on Addiction, Age UK, FareShare, Missing People, NSPCC, Refuge, StepChange, Winston’s Wish and Cris el Cancer (Spain).
Grant Clemence continues “Our COVID-19 resilience fund is supporting charities who may have exhausted all avenues for financial support in the first few months of the pandemic, but have active campaigns to support people that need them most during this time.”
Lindsay Boswell, CEO FareShare said: “This funding will help FareShare continue to support an increasing number of people in need of food during this difficult time. Thank you on behalf of FareShare’s staff, its volunteers, the charities we supply and the people they support.”
Jo Swinhoe, Director of Income Generation at NCPCC said: “We are extremely grateful for the generous donation from the QBE Foundation towards our ‘Still Here for Children’ appeal. Coronavirus pandemic continues to present new challenges for children and their families. At the NSPCC we need to continually adapt our services to respond to the changing environment and continue to be here for children.”
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For further information contact:
Alexis Burris, Media Relations Adviser, QBE +44 (0)20 3465 3921
Sandra Villanueva, Senior Media Relations Manager, QBE +44(0)20 7105 5284
About the QBE Foundation
The QBE Foundation is the charitable arm of QBE and partners with impactful not-for-profit organisations around the world to protect vulnerable communities, enable financial resilience, strengthen their health and wellbeing, and to build more inclusive, sustainable communities. In Europe, It has donated over £8m to charities since its launch in 2011, through a combination of initiatives such as matching employee fundraising efforts and payroll giving donations to providing grants to charities and encouraging employee volunteering.
About QBE
QBE helps businesses build resilience through risk management and insurance.
QBE European Operations is part of QBE Insurance Group, one of the world’s leading international insurers and reinsurers and Standard & Poor’s A+ rated. Listed on the Australian Securities Exchange, QBE’s gross written premium for the year ended 31 December 2019 was US$13.4 billion.
As a business insurance specialist, QBE European Operations offers a range of insurance products from the standard suite of property, casualty and motor to the specialist financial lines, marine and energy. All are tailored to the individual needs of our small, medium and large client base.
We understand the crucial role that effective risk management plays in all organisations and work hard to understand our clients’ businesses so that we offer insurance solutions that meet their needs – from complex programmes to simpler e-trading solutions – and support them in minimising their risk exposures. Our expert risk management and rehabilitation practitioners focus on helping clients improve their risk management so that they may benefit from a reduction in claims frequency and costs.