As a boutique company with an ethically driven board, IQ is strongly committed to supporting those who are less fortunate than us. We are keen to use our business to effect positive change – not just in the lives of our clients, but also in the wider communities in which we operate.
Empathy, understanding and compassion have always run deeply through everything that we do: our recent B Corporation certification is a recognition of our determination to uphold certain values and look after our employees and our other stakeholders.
Once again, all of our team members took part in the IQ “12 Days of Christmas” campaign. We tried our hands at everything from cake baking to long-distance cycling. The causes that we have supported are ones which – for one reason or another – are close to our hearts. But we would also be very interested in knowing the causes you support. We are always keen to find out how the causes to which you give your time might dovetail with our own.
You’ve probably already seen photographs on social media of our staff involved in the campaign. Here’s just a quick roundup of what we’ve been up to this month:
Lisa, our Associate Director of Operations, lost her grandmother to a heart attack. So all the vital work being done by the British Heart Foundation is something she is particularly keen to get behind. What better – and what tastier – way than a December cake sale?
We have been supporting the Whitechapel Mission for a year now. Once again, six IQ members enjoyed an early start and joined the fabulous Whitechapel team to serve breakfast to the homeless.
Our CEO Petronella West has been supporting Street Child for over 10 years now. So day 3 of our campaign saw her make another generous donation to the NGO – in addition to the £13,000 that she raised (and the half marathon that she ran!) earlier this year.
We all know somebody who has been affected by prostate cancer. On day 3, our COO Andy West made a generous donation to Cancer Research UK to fund new treatments that can help people live longer, better lives, free from the fear of cancer.
Did you know that just one blood donation can save up to three lives? The blood that Elliot and Charlotte donated on day 5 will doubtless be a lifeline in an emergency for people who need long-term treatments.
Hope for Families is a Christian charity that helps families navigate a path through the challenges that life can sometimes bring with it. Our Chairman Jeremy Sharman has been supporting the charity for a long time now, and over the course of this campaign, he has cycled 144 km to raise money to cover the charity’s operating costs and fund parent and couple resources.
St Mungo’s is another organisation dedicated to ending homelessness. Its frontline workers are out – every night – bringing people in from the streets. On day 7, Melissa and Arna collected a box of essentials and food items to donate to the shelter.
https://twitter.com/IQWealth/status/1600498817538875394?s=20&t=KErurKUVamihREn6EItqDA
Save the Children works globally to help children get the future they deserve. 8 December was Christmas Jumper Day, so the IQ team made a generous donation and in return got to leave their sensible professional clothes at home… and instead sport the most exquisite Christmas jumpers in the office.
https://twitter.com/IQWealth/status/1600918842481467392?s=20&t=LPwAE3jO67hBEvAlkhgoJQ
IQ has been working with Future Skills Training for some time now. The Battersea-based charity develops and delivers programmes to help vulnerable young people, particularly children with limited opportunities within the mainstream education system. Day 9 saw Petronella and me running a “Money Matters” workshop, educating children about simple ways to earn and save money.
In a year during which Ukraine has been at the forefront of everybody’s mind, we simply could not overlook the Red Cross and its Ukraine Crisis Appeal. So on day 10, our Director of Private Clients Nick Rolf made a much-needed donation to support the millions of people who have lost their homes and their livelihoods.
Did you know that IQ now has its own running club? This December, IQ’s Sophie, Chloe and Nick have each run 76 km (1 km on 1 December, 2 km on 2 December, 3 km on 3 December, etc.). And the money they have raised is going to Prostate Cancer UK, funding research that will improve the diagnosis and treatment of a disease from which one in every eight men will suffer.
Armed with buckets and a healthy dose of goodwill, Chloe and I are heading to Waterloo station to shake the former and spread the latter – all in the name of raising money for St Mungo’s.
As a B Corp, we know full well that the world’s most challenging problems cannot be addressed by governments alone. We also know that we would not be able to support any of these causes or charities without you. Our “12 Days of Christmas” campaign is evidence of our resolve to help all stakeholders, and to meet high standards of social and environmental performance, transparency and accountability in the process. We will continue to engage in philanthropic endeavours next year and beyond, and would love to hear from you, our clients, about the causes close to your heart. Our fostering even closer ties with you will enable us to make even more of an impact on the wider community.
For now, however, the IQ team would simply like to wish you all a happy, safe festive season.
