Celebrating International Day of Charity – 5th September 2023
Chris Broome – Chartered Financial Planner
Any charitable donation, big or small, time or money can go a long way to helping support some of the world’s worst problems such as child hunger or the environment. Charity is vital, it enables us to reach out to wider parts of society, assisting those who need help the most. This is why the International Day of Charity is so important. It raises awareness about charity and why it is important to help those in need.
International Day of Charity serves to increase and enhance social responsibilities across the world, increasing support for charitable causes and bringing everyone together in solidarity. This day presents a great opportunity to get involved in charity events that are going on around the world.
History of International Day of Charity
To honour the important work that charities do, in 2012 the United Nations decided to nominate an annual International Day of Charity as an official day of recognition and celebration. The reason this particular date was chosen is because it is the anniversary of the Death of Mother Teresa of Calcutta.
This choice commemorates the tireless work that Mother Teresa did by devoting her whole life to charity work.
To celebrate this special day every year, the work of different charities all over the world is publicised and celebrated, and people are encouraged to donate money and/or time, to carry out charitable work and to educate people and raise awareness about many charitable issues worldwide.
Education and giving are the essence of this day.
How to celebrate International Day of Charity
There are various ways that you can get involved with International Day of Charty. It does not matter how much money you have to spare or how much time you have available; charitable donations are welcome in any form, big or small. It’s about doing what is manageable for you.
You can spend the day learning more about Mother Teresa. There have been several films and books that Mother Teresa has been the subject of.
You can also spend International Day of Charity learning about different charities. There are lots of charities around the world with various causes including charities for mental health, animal shelters, charities for seniors, organisations for those with specific health problems, charities for the homeless and many more.
Not all charities out there have big budgets to spend on advertising campaigns, so you may not be aware of the hard work going on behind the scenes.
About Longhurst’s charitable giving programme – ‘Project Longhurst’
At Longhurst we are deeply passionate about supporting both our local community and a number of national and international causes.
Our focus is to be more intentioned with our giving, ensuring we direct our financial and non-monetary contributions to proven charitable organisations across important sectors to our team and our clients.
As such, in January 2023 we launched our firm’s first ever corporate charitable giving programme, called ‘Project Longhurst’.
Annually, we will be donating a minimum sum of money across all causes, with us retaining each charity for at least 3 years.
We also hope to inspire other firms within our sector, and our own clients, to follow our lead and establish their own charitable giving programme.
Following a beneficiary due diligence and selection exercise, supported by our Good-Giving partner Randi Weaver, Longhurst has chosen the following charity partners:
Humanitarian Aid Relief Trust (HART)
Humane Society International/UK (HSI)
Find out more about Project Longhurst and the charities we help on our website.
