Charity-Wrap™ launched

Katie Bowmer, TBD Associates, Stephen Dobson, Document XL, Elaine McConnell, Springhill Hospice

Stephen Dobson, a Rochdale based local businessman, is this month asking fellow business owners and managers if they could ‘help charities print money’, as he sets out to change the way Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) fundraising is approached, in memory of his late mother, setting himself a target to raise £1million for local charities.

Mr Dobson, Managing Director of Document XL, has this week launched Charity-Wrap™, a fund raising idea he has been working on for some time, having been determined, following his mother’s death, to find a way for local charities to receive the ongoing financial support they so desperately need, all year round.

Charity-Wrap™ is a unique initiative which provides sustainable support for charities, enabling organisations to support their chosen cause, consistently, through doing nothing more than going about their business. The steady income for charities comes from Charity-Wrap™ donating 1p for each colour page the organisation produces to the organisation’s chosen charity.

Based on figures that the UK prints in excess of 23 million colour pages a day if Charity-Wrap™ captures even a fraction of these colour pages and donates a penny from each page this is a significant amount of extra revenue being driven to charities across the country.

Additionally, through partners, Charity-Wrap™ often provides a cheaper alternative to traditional printers due to its environmental credentials, and in such cases it is at the discretion of the business if they would then like to pass some, or all, of these savings on as a charitable donation.

Each quarter, Charity-Wrap™ will then donate to the charity and work with their supporter businesses to tell the stories of what the funding has achieved, to illustrate the CSR and charitable work of the organisation in real terms.

Founder of Charity-Wrap™, Stephen Dobson said: “It’s unique and innovative, but it’s simple. I can’t believe no-one has thought of this before. There’s no easier way to fund raise - all you need to do is keep printing as usual.

“Having lost my mother to cancer and experiencing her being cared for in a local Marie Curie hospice I have first-hand experience of the impact charities make within our local communities.

"I also know how much it takes to run these kind of centres, and how the fundraisers work tirelessly to find new ways of reaching out to corporate sponsors who could really help them.

"Many businesses are too busy to run charity events and collect sponsorship, and those who do have to limit it to a few times a year. With Charity-Wrap™ we are making it easy for people to support a cause close to their heart, with no extra effort required from them. That has got to be appealing to all companies who want to show a CSR commitment but struggle to commit time to it.

“We know that people these days feel guilty about printing and try to be more sustainable wherever possible, but we also know in many businesses printing is here to stay. If Charity-Wrap™ can help organisations offset their need for printing, by supporting a charity whilst they do it, this is a great way to balance their CSR out.”

One of the first supporters of Charity Wrap is TBD Associates in Rochdale. Director Katie Bowmer said: “Congratulations on such a fantastic idea, we’re looking forward to seeing what impact we can make and would encourage all businesses to get behind this worthy cause”.

Elaine McConnell, from Springhill Hospice, said: “We are always looking for ways to generate more funds for Springhill Hospice and we see the Charity-Wrap™ scheme as a way of helping us to increase funds for many years ahead. We will be encouraging our Business Buddies to get involved with Charity-Wrap™ as this is a unique way to increase awareness of the work we do.”