For many of your clients, 2020 was a year to forget. Many of them may have spent the year struggling to keep their business afloat, while potentially home-schooling children and perhaps even dealing with the debilitating impact of Covid-19 themselves.
As we head into the new year in a third national lockdown, it’s easy to be downbeat about the prospects for 2021. However, from new vaccines to a Brexit trade deal, there are reasons to be optimistic about the months ahead.
One of the positive outcomes of 2020 was the way in which communities – both locally and nationally – pulled together to achieve great things. You only have to look at the efforts of Captain Tom Moore and Marcus Rashford to see how public figures can inspire us all.
While we’re certainly not in the same fundraising league as Joe Wicks, we raised more than £1,300 for our chosen charity in 2020. Read on for a look back at our own charitable efforts last year, and how you can help us ‘go green’ with our BlueSKY 2021 chosen charity.
More than £1,300 raised for mental health charity
A year ago, we chose the mental health charity MIND as our good cause for 2020. In the past we’ve looked at the close link between mental and financial wellbeing, and we were keen to find a cause that supported this.
Of course, at the start of 2020 we had little idea what the year would bring and just how important the services MIND provide would be (and continue to be). They have seen a significant rise in demand for their services during the Covid-19 pandemic and we were therefore delighted to be able to support their work through our fundraising efforts.
Over the year, we hosted a range of events to raise funds:
- Our Sunflower Challenge – we asked you to grow the tallest sunflower you could over the summer, and our winner reached a mighty three and a half metres!
- A Christmas raffle
- Our famous Christmas quiz – you kindly made donations to MIND when you downloaded our tricky family quiz
- Our team donated unused holidays
Including the matched donations from BlueSKY, we raised a total of £1,310 for MIND in 2020.
Thank you if you contributed to our efforts. There’s still time to donate if you’d like to – indeed, why not contribute a few pounds and download our quiz to keep you entertained during lockdown?
Revealed: the BlueSKY 2021 chosen charity
One of the reasons to be optimistic about 2021 is that climate change and the environment are set to remain near the top of the political agenda, both in the UK and overseas.
In 2018, 26% of the world’s energy consumption for heating, power and transportation came from renewable energy sources. Experts predict this will rise to 45% by 2040, with thanks to the increasing use of solar, wind, and hydropower.
The UK is set to play a significant role in leading the world on green issues as we host the UN Climate Change Conference in 2021. With Joe Biden set to rejoin the Paris Climate Agreement, positive action is being taken around the world to tackle environmental issues.
In addition, the demand for ESG investing – funds that consider environmental, social, and governance issues – continues to grow. According to The Times, the investment management firm Hargreaves Lansdown saw inward flows into ESG funds double over the year to June 2020.
So, to reflect the increasing interest in this type of investing, we will be introducing a ‘green’ investment strategy (to sit alongside our existing proposition) in 2021. Keep an eye out for our regular updates with more details of this.
To support our new ‘green’ proposition, we therefore felt it was appropriate to support an environmental cause in 2021. Lockdown has shown us all how important green spaces are, and positive proponents of change such as David Attenborough and Greta Thunberg are powerful and inspiring advocates for action.
So, after consultation with the whole BlueSKY team, we have decided to choose the Bucks, Berks and Oxon Wildlife Trust (BBOWT) as our chosen charity in 2021.
BBOWT is committed to restoring nature across Buckinghamshire, Berkshire, and Oxfordshire and empowering people to connect with their local wildlife. The charity manages local habitats and works with more than 1,700 volunteers to look after 85 nature reserves and four education centres. The trust also runs hundreds of amazing events, and campaign to make nature’s recovery a reality.
Our hope is that, as the rollout of a Covid-19 vaccine enables a return to normality, that we can all get involved with local conservation work and tree-planting initiatives. In the meantime, we’ll be sharing a range of fundraising ideas as we go through 2021 to raise vital funds for this local cause.
Keep an eye out in our monthly updates and on our website for more information over the next few weeks and months.
Get in touch
As ever, if you have clients who would benefit from financial advice – for example, if they are divorcing or they own their own business – we can help. Email info@blueskyifas.co.uk or call us on 0118 987 6655.
