​Southern staff chose Eastbourne good cause as corporate charity

Southern staff have chosen Eastbourne based charity Embrace, as their new corporate charity, and have made a donation of £886 to start get the fundraising ball rolling.

The charity was one of three good causes, nominated by Southern staff, which could be voted on when staff completed the company’s recent Employee Survey. Each completed survey resulted in a £1 donation, which staff could allocate as they saw fit. Embrace was put forward by Moulsecoomb station Sales Clerk, Su Rogers, in recognition of all the support they have given her and her son over the years. In total, 886 staff voted for Embrace - the highest number of votes, resulting in the £886 donation.

Speaking at the presentation of the cheque, at Eastbourne station, Rebecca Whippy, Chairperson and Advocate for the charity, said: “I am delighted that Embrace East Sussex has been lucky enough to be selected as one of Southern's charities of the year. It was a huge surprise since we are such a young charity and we are very excited to be working with them and grateful for the nomination from Su and the votes from the staff.”

Moulsecoomb station's Su Rogers said: “I am so pleased that Embrace got so many votes – it’s wonderful. I was delighted that the charity was included as one of the three on the survey and couldn’t believe they got the most. My thanks to everyone who voted, as well as those who have given me small donations to add to the money we presented to Embrace.”

Southern will now look at ways it can further support Embrace over the coming year, such as providing support with event promotion and providing raffle prizes. Staff from the company will also look at the possibility of providing a Try the Train event for the children, giving them the chance to develop their understanding of the railway.

Alongside this, Southern will once again run a dedicated Charities Week, similar to the one held in April this year. Over seven days, staff from across the business came together in a variety of ways to raise £3,361 for the previous corporate good causes. The funds were raised through cake sales, quizzes and staff cycling the distance from Brighton to St Neots on two exercise bikes at Blackfriars.

You can find out more about Embrace at: http://embracees.org.uk/