Roche colleagues join fight for children with life-threatening conditions

Colleagues from pharmaceutical firm, Roche, have pledged to support local children and young people with life-threatening conditions as they announce East Anglia's Children's Hospices (EACH) as their charity of the year for 2016.

 

Colleagues at Roche’s Welwyn Garden City headquarters chose EACH following a staff vote. The company, who are the world’s largest biotech company, have a long history of supporting local charities through their fundraising activity. Over the last 15 years, they have raised more than £320,000 for good causes through their charity of the year programme.

EACH cares for children and young people with life-threatening conditions across East Anglia and supports their families. For both families accessing care, and those who have been bereaved, EACH is a lifeline at an unimaginably difficult time. More than 700 children, young people and family members across East Anglia are currently receiving care and support from the charity.

Roche General Manager Richard Erwin said: “Our charity of the year programme is an excellent way for us to get our colleagues actively behind a great cause. It’s vital that Roche is a good corporate citizen while we carry out our day-to-day work to develop products that help improve and save people’s lives.”

Roche staff plan to organise and host a wide range of fundraising activities throughout the year to raise valuable money for EACH including raffles, running challenges, a family fun day, quiz nights and cake bakes.

Karen Newton, EACH Fundraising Manager, said: “We are thrilled that employees at Roche have voted us as their charity of the year for 2016. Their support will be invaluable in the coming months and we look forward to working closely with them.

“At EACH we rely on voluntary donations for the majority of our income so we can keep providing vital care and support to children and young people with life-threatening conditions and their families across East Anglia. It costs £5,300 every day of the year to provide our care and support in Cambridgeshire alone. We need to raise more than £5 million from fundraising and £2.5 million from our shops this year to continue our services.”

EACH offer families flexibility and control over where they receive their care and support; at home, in hospital or at one of three hospices at Milton (Cambridge), Quidenham (Norfolk) and The Treehouse (Ipswich).  

For more information on EACH and the services they provide visit: www.each.org.uk

Image: (back row, l to r): Neil Hamilton-Meikle, EACH Corporate Fundraiser; Paul Marston, Corporate Affairs Executive, Roche.
(front row, l to r): Richard Erwin, General Manager, Roche; Angela Mulholland, EACH volunteer; Karen Newton, EACH Cambridgeshire Fundraising Manager; Mahdi Farhan, Product Development Site Head, Roche.

About Roche in the UK:
Roche is the world’s largest biotech company, with truly differentiated medicines in oncology, immunology, infectious diseases, ophthalmology and neuroscience. Roche is also the world leader in in vitro diagnostics and tissue-based cancer diagnostics, and a frontrunner in diabetes management. Roche’s personalised healthcare strategy aims at providing medicines and diagnostics that enable tangible improvements in the health, quality of life and survival of patients. Founded in 1896, Roche has been making important contributions to global health for more than a century. Twenty-eight medicines developed by Roche are included in the World Health Organization Model Lists of Essential Medicines, among them life-saving antibiotics, antimalarials and chemotherapy.

Roche in the UK employs over 2,000 people in pharmaceuticals and diagnostics.  For more information: www.roche.co.uk

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For further information about this release please contact:

Laura Stafford Allen | Press and Media Manager | 01842 765121, 07738328058 | laura.staffordallen@each.org.uk
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