Pick a Project

By Eva Merpillat

Our charity efforts at Tokio Marine HCC take many forms, from fundraising and volunteering to raising awareness in and outside of the business. One of the newest and most successful initiatives is our ‘Pick a Project’ campaign, which we launched last year.

The idea behind this is to provide a one-off donation to one of our charity partners to help get a specific project off the ground. Unrestricted funds are difficult to secure for charities, especially for new and untested projects, so Pick a Project allows our charity partners to run their project, evaluate it and secure more long-term grants. 

Much of the work that our charity partners do is vital in local communities – helping them obtain new and long-lasting funds is at the core of TMHCC’s charity mission. Last year, our Pick a Project grant was awarded to both Dementia UK and Lamp, respectively (since the final employee vote ended in a tie), and funds went toward their new weekend Sessional helpline Admiral Nurse and Early Intervention Mental Health Hub projects.

This year, UK employees voted for their favourite projects and the Emergency Grant Scheme Project from Young Lives vs Cancer won the vote!

Young Lives vs Cancer is the UK’s leading cancer charity for children, young people and their families, helping them find the strength to face everything cancer throws at them. Their Emergency Grant Scheme project aims to provide crisis grants for families as they struggle to deal with the cost-of-living. For families with children living with cancer, it is vital that young cancer patients are kept warm, well fed, and can get to a hospital – this scheme aims to prevent families from making hard choices this winter.

Joanna Hancock, Head of Corporate Partnerships at Young Lives vs Cancer, said: 

“When your child is diagnosed with cancer, it’s devastating. Both emotionally and financially. And for families receiving the news today, it’s getting even harder.”

“They are left with having to make impossible choices. Deciding between putting the heating on to keep their child warm or paying for petrol to get them to hospital for treatment: getting the food that their child desperately craves while on chemotherapy or buying them a warm coat.”

Thanks to the kindness of Tokio Marine HCC’s CSR Committee and staff, by choosing to support our Crisis Fund with their Pick a Project initiative this means that we can be there to support even more families this winter. Thank you from everyone here at Young Lives vs Cancer.”

To learn more about Young Lives vs Cancer and how they are supporting the families and children facing cancer, click here.

To learn more about our Charity Programme and the four pillars it is centered around, click here.