Here at MEC we feel very strongly about doing our bit for charity. In 2011 we picked a “Charity of the Year” that’s very close to our hearts called Elise for Life and raised an impressive £15,000. We are incredibly proud of what we achieved throughout 2011 and feel privileged to have worked so closely with such an inspirational charity.
Our ability to raise so much money relied mainly on the fundraisers MEC staff came up with, from cake bakes to pumpkin carving competitions. There were a number of events that happened outside of the office too including the ‘Coast 2 Coast’ challenge which saw our cycle team cover 1,899 miles in three days. Our very own Business Director Cherry Jackson also walked 48,000 meters along the Great Wall of China and returned to tell her tale.
With a new ‘Charity of the Year’ to be announced in the New Year we are always looking at different ways to fundraise, and one charity this festive season has really caught our attention. ‘Freestyle Interactive’ is a creative digital agency that decided to do something a little different this Christmas. Combining their digital expertise and passion to help they created ‘Tweet For Toys’, the concept being that using the #TweetsForToys hashtag Twitter users could send their Christmas message and have a toy donated to a child on their behalf.
The agency also set up a webcam in their Santa’s grotto wrapping station where each morning you can tune in to watch Santa’s Elves wrapping more gifts! All toys donated will go to ‘Refuge’, a charity that offers support and shelter from domestic violence for women and children across the Warwickshire area. Currently a total of 104 toys will be given to children in shelters over Christmas and hopefully many more to come!
The campaign offers Twitter users the chance to submit a message tag, the best of which they print onto labels. Also by utilising the Twitter API they have integrated the tweets into our feed so all of the messages from kind contributors appear when tweeted. The webcam streaming service is powered by Bambuster, a relatively new live streaming technology. It allows viewers to tune in 24 hours a day and instant-message those doing the wrapping. Once wrapped photos of the gifts are uploaded onto Flickr, which is then seeded on to Facebook.
MEC Opinion
We think that this is a brilliant alternative to the usual office festivities! It has completely utilised the skills that the agency have and will bring a lot of joy to children this Christmas. The fundraiser has certainly generated plenty of PR for the charity which could prove invaluable in the future. Here at MEC we know how important it is to give something back and are delighted when we see other people doing there bit. An amazing idea that has been brilliantly executed bringing some much needed festive cheer to a lot of children in Warwickshire.
