Every year, the teams at Wellington IT and Gaina Software vote on a charity to pledge their support for. In 2017, that charity was Cancer Fund for Children - we kicked off our year's fundraising with a Christmas gift of £2000 on behalf of our customers, and with £3000 left to meet our £5000 target, it was time to get down to business! 

Who are Cancer Fund for Children?

Cancer Fund For Children is a leading local charity that provides practical, emotional and financial support to children and young people aged 0 to 24 affected by cancer. With less than 0.3% of income from government funding, they rely on donations and volunteers to continue to deliver support services throughout Northern Ireland.

What did we get up to in 2017?

Christmas Jumper Day 
The team threw caution (and fashion) to the wind with our annual Christmas jumper day, which doubled up as the launch of  Cancer Fund for Children as the charity of the year. 

Belfast City Marathon 
Our very brave volunteers took on the challenge of the Belfast Marathon on a thankfully sunny day. With training plans in place and (vaguely) adhered to for weeks ahead of time, the Wellington Warriors and Gaina Gladiators hit their stride and pushed their limits, all in the name of Cancer Fund for Children.

The Great Belfast Bake Off
It was time to take to the ovens as our teams gathered in Belfast for our Customer Value Creation event. Several entered the kitchen in the hopes of winning best bake (and several more followed to compete for most cake eaten), with the crown going to Nicole's Caramel & Coffee cake, and the proceeds going to our charity of the year. We also held a raffle with some amazing prizes (free Boojum anyone?) to help get us over the line.  

No Junk November
After all the excitement (and saturates) of the Bake Off, the offices decided it was time for a bit of a health kick, and dedicated themselves to giving up junk for a whole month. The money normally spent on curry chips and caramel squares went into the charity pot instead, and gave Wellington IT and Gaina the final boost they needed to pass the £5000 mark.

What's next?

We've picked a brand new charity of the year for 2018, and we'll be announcing just who that is during January, when we'll be launching our fundraising efforts. We've got some great ideas for fundraising in the year ahead, and we look forward to sharing our successes with you this time next year!