A year in Donate a Days; why compounding isn’t just relevant to investing...

As a wealth manager, I appreciate the power of compounding. Lots of small things, which although undoubtedly important in isolation, sum together into a significant result.

This holiday period, I have been able to experience the power of compounding first-hand, with the twins on their school Christmas holiday. I wouldn’t say I was particularly fond of occasionally finding empty beer bottles strewn throughout my house. Nor did I love discovering that my son’s idea of ‘letting the dog out’ was simply to open his bedroom door, leaving her to wreak unspeakable havoc throughout the house. And it wasn’t exactly ‘Christmas come early’ when I descended the stairs one morning to find 18 shoes piled by the front door as if my house had become a children’s soft play area overnight. But when you combine all these things together… Let’s just say that I’m probably more excited for school to start again than they are.

On a more positive note, I couldn’t help but be reminded of this compounding effect when I took the time to read through the many acts of charity pursued by my Sanlam colleagues throughout 2019. From cheering up local schools with fresh coats of paint to planting flowers at a children’s hospice, these acts, though heart-warming in and of themselves, have a far more significant impact when viewed as a whole. The collective impact of 500 people across the UK being given a day off work to support a charity of their choice is immeasurable.

So even though I can’t measure it, I’d like to celebrate it. To begin the year on a profoundly positive note, here’s a snapshot of some of the initiatives that my colleagues across the country undertook last year.

Bristol:

Propositions and Technical Services ‘Donated a Day’ to Bromley Heath Junior School. They needed our employees’ help to paint some of their outdoor wooden equipment and as part of the Donate a Day, the Bristol team were tasked with raising money to assist with the purchase of the equipment. The extra ￡420 that we managed to raise has been donated to Empire Fighting Chance, a Bristol-based charity who provide a powerful combination of non-contact boxing and intensive personal support with the goal of challenging and inspiring young people to realise their potential. The team’s second Donate a Day was in support of St Peter's Hospice. They attended the Bristol Balloon Fiesta on Friday 10th August dressed as Lenny the Bear and his support team to help encourage donations.

The Bristol office also raised over ￡670 for Kidney Research UK with a Halloween Murder Mystery Party, for which The Evolve Group and Charity Committee led the decoration efforts throughout the office.

The paraplanning team donated a day to decorate a local primary school, getting out their paints and decorating the walls with a sky theme, including clouds, stars and even a personalised rocket!

London and Sevenoaks:

Donate a Day Teams from Sanlam’s offices in the South East got together to help Demelza children’s hospice in Sittingbourne. The team helped out with gardening and maintenance work in the grounds and gardens, which was hugely valuable to an organisation with limited resources, and is essential to providing a beautiful environment for the children and their families staying at the hospice.

St Asaph:

Donate a Day took place on Thursday 20th September at various locations of the retail arm of St Kentigern Hospice, which raises vital funds to ensure the future of the hospice. They donated their time to assist in the Distribution and eBay Centre. This included photographing and listing items for auction on eBay, sorting through stock, and working on shop display. A number of the St Asaph office also spent time in the hospice’s high street shops in Abergele, Rhyl and Prestatyn, providing valuable assistance in stock rotation and spring cleaning! The hospice is committed to meeting the needs of people with active, progressive or advanced illnesses, by providing palliative care to promote the highest quality of life, with continuing support for families and carers.

Harrogate:

The Harrogate Office completed their challenge of swimming one mile in ice-cold water without the benefit of wetsuits at a lake at Hatfield, near Doncaster, in aid of CASCAID. The official temperature of the lake was 4.5C!

I’m excited to see what fantastic new charitable initiatives will be pursued by Sanlam employees in 2020 and beyond. Come to think of it, I think I might have 9 spare pairs of shoes to donate…