Partner Article

Six Degrees Group Ski Trip for HOPEHIV

Six Degrees Group (6DG), a converged technology infrastructure provider, has raised nearly £20,000 for HOPEHIV, a charity that supports vulnerable children and young people in sub-Saharan Africa. As part of its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programme, Six Degrees of Hope, 6DG organised a “three countries, three days, one cause” ski trip to raise awareness and funds for the charity.

Hosted by members of the 6DG leadership team and a representative from HOPEHIV, 17 guests from other technology, telecoms and corporate finance companies headed to the mountains for three days on the slopes. The party skied in in Verbier (Switzerland), Courmayeur (Italy) and Chamonix (France) in glorious sunshine.

On the last evening of the trip Alastair Mills, CEO of 6DG, shared his personal experience of HOPEHIV’s outstanding work from his trip to Zambia, out of which 6DG’s support of the charity grew and grew. Kasia Morgan, Head of Fundraising at HOPEHIV, then gave the guests an insight into the different ways that the charity improves the lives of thousands of children and young people in sub-Saharan Africa, drawing particular attention to their new Village Investors Programme (VIP). The VIP initiative is a microfinance programme that educates and empowers the children’s parents and guardians to earn a sustainable living, giving them the opportunity to save money and borrow small loans to build their businesses. This, in turn, means they are able to care for the children better, and for longer.

A raffle and auction then took place, bringing the total raised for the trip to £19,111.

Morgan said: “It was such a pleasure to spend time with 6DG and their guests during this fantastic trip to the slopes. Six Degrees of Hope is an inspiring initiative, through which the 6DG team continue to show significant commitment to our cause. They are making a huge difference to the lives of the many thousands of young people we support.”

Mills concluded: “I have always fancied the idea of raising money through skiing, but I struggled with the concept of asking friends and family to sponsor me to do something I enjoy so much. So I asked a group of industry execs and several staff to pay an inflated price to ski three countries in three days and we had a blast. It was a memorable way to raise money for a cause that it very close to my heart. I’m incredibly grateful to all those who came along and contributed so generously.”

6DG has supported HOPEHIV since the company’s creation in 2011 and in the last three years has raised over £200,000 for the charity.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Six Degrees News .