Giving back to society

Alongside the support we offer via The Hope Foundation, as a team we like to give back to society in other ways. Each year, we nominate a charity of the year, which we spend all year raising money for through various charitable activities. 

Since selecting our first 'Paydata Charity of the Year' in 2018, we have donated more than £17,000 to good causes and we aren't done yet! Thank you to everyone who supports our fundraising efforts - every donation, big or small, means so much to us.

2025

About Heartline

For 2025, the Paydata team have chosen to support Heartline as our charity of the year. Heartline supports children with heart conditions and their families, to a membership of over 3000 Families, including:

• ‘Heart Children’ , a handbook provided free to families.
• Free wetsuits - to encourage swimming, often the only physical activity they can enjoy.
• Subsidised caravan breaks
• Weekend activity breaks - for heart children and, separately, their siblings to help them gain independence and physical confidence.

2024

Charity of the Year

2024 saw the Paydata team raising funds to support local charity Safer off the Streets.

About Safer off the Streets

Safer off the Streets brings together multiple charities and organisations to take a more targeted approach at tackling the issue of rough sleeping in Peterborough

With Peterborough, like many cities in the UK, seeing an increase in rough sleepers, Safer off the Streets creates a network of support to help people who are sleeping rough, whilst also looking at ways to prevent and support people so they don’t end up on the streets in the first place.

Monies raised

As always, we started the fundraising year strong with our pledge to donate £5 per participant in our annual customer satisfaction survey. Our best year yet, with 147 responses, yielded £735 for the charity pot!

Sporting fundraisers were a popular choice this year, with sweepstakes on the Grand National, Wimbledon and the Euros 2024. And not forgetting our regular football league challenge raising additional funds. Although, with some very quick rounds this year I think we all need to work on our prediction skills!

Our annual charity walk saw us head to the Norfolk coast, completing a 15 mile stretch between Blakeney and Cromer. Whilst reasonably flat, the long stint on the pebble beach proved the hardest nemesis. There were some very sore feet by the end of the day.

And we finished the year with a fan favourite - Christmas bell-ringing around the local business park.

2023

Charity of the Year

For 2023, the Paydata team voted to support local charity Carers First as our 2023 Charity of the Year!

About Carers First

Carers First works directly with, and for over 39,000 carers, providing personalised information and tailored support in the way that suits them, helping them find balance, and to live their lives to the fullest.

Monies raised

We were back on the Peak District trails in the spring, completing our annual fundraising walk, raising over £1,000 in the process.

Alongside this we fundraised through varying activities, with cake bakes to Zumba fundraisers a welcome addition. Our Football League was also back in full swing, raising over £100.

And Joe's new addition provided a perfect excuse to instigate a 'Guess the baby name' sweepstake. Our lack of success at guessing the name correctly was the charity pots gain!

As always, thank you to everyone who helped us in our fundraising in 2023!

2022

Charity of the Year

For 2022, the Paydata team chose to support Peterborough Foodbank as our Charity of the Year. As well as raising vital funds to support this invaluable charity, we also be clocked up volunteering hours supporting the sorting and distribution of food parcels.

Peterborough foodbank is part of The Trussell Trust’s network of 428 foodbanks, working to tackle food poverty and hunger in our local communities, as well as across the UK. In 2012, 1 in 4 children in Peterborough were identified as living in poverty. Peterborough Foodbank now operates six days a week across nine city locations, providing three day's food and support to people in crisis. Foodbanks partner with a wide range of care professionals (doctors, health visitors, social workers and police) to identify people in crisis.

2021

Charity of the Year

As we were unable to fulfil our £2,500 fundraising target for Re-engage in 2020, as a team we decided to continue fundraising for Re-engage in 2021. On top of the £887.50 raised in 2020, we raised a further £1,104 through activities such as a new year steps challenge and our annual customer satisfaction questionnaire (whereby Paydata donates £5 for every company that takes part). We also restarted our annual Football League fundraising challenge, with 50% of the money raised going to charity.

Re-engage offers vital support to older people with its main aim being to combat isolation and loneliness, by helping them to re-engage with their communities through regular face to face contact.

During the Covid-19 crisis, groups had to be suspended. With many feeling incredibly vulnerable, especially those with few family members or friends to talk to, this was been particularly devastating for group members. In response Re-engage set up a UK-wide call companions service. Older people who are feeling alone can receive a regular friendly phone call throughout the crisis and beyond, for as long as they want it.

Other charitable activities

As we approached the Easter holiday period we wanted to help those in our local community who were struggling. Throughout the pandemic, Food Banks across the country have continued to do a fantastic job supporting those in need. We are pleased to have been able to support Peterborough Foodbank with a £250 donation towards their essential work.

2020

Charity of the Year

At the beginning of 2020, we selected Re-engage as our Charity of the Year. With a full-year target of £2,500, fundraising got off to a strong start with £887.50 raised in the first three months of the year. Alas Covid-19 hit and fundraising stalled. But we will not be beaten and the decision was made to rollover fundraising for Re-engage into 2021.

2019

Charity of the Year

2019 saw another busy year of fundraising for the Paydata team, this time in aid of The North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust (Charity No. 1050601).

From quiz nights to charity walks, from cake sales to festive bell-ringing, the final total stood at £2,661.52.

The North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust was chosen as our charity of the year as with ongoing budget cuts, trusts are having to rely on charitable funds to supplement the vital work that they do.

The North West Anglia NHS Trust Charity exists to support the Trust in providing the best possible healthcare to patients. Money raised allows them to raise standards above the level that NHS budgets alone allows, such as funding equipment and staff education above what is offered by the NHS, as well as funding medical research and improving the overall welfare of patients.

Other charitable activities

Paydata sponsored four plaques on behalf of Rushden and District Badminton Club. Created in memory of former club member, and 2013 tournament winner, Iain Young, the plaque were a fitting tribute.

Paydata director, Tim Kellett comments, "Giving back to society forms a key part of our vision and I am really pleased to be able to support a local cause in this way."

2018

Charity of the Year

At the beginning of 2018, to mark 20 years of Paydata, we selected Unique as our first ‘Charity of the Year’ and took on the ambitious task of fundraising £5,000 over the course of the year.

Through a combination of team and individual challenges, we were overjoyed to raise a grand total of £5,369 excluding Gift Aid (£5,762.75 once Gift Aid is included).

We selected Unique as our ‘Charity of the Year’ following the vital support that it has provided to our colleague, Helen Lallyette and her family. Unique supports children born with rare chromosome disorders. These disorders are so rare and specific that limited information is available for families.

Commenting, Craig Mitchell, chief operating officer at Unique says, "We’re really grateful to everyone at Paydata. During 2018 we welcomed and helped just over 2,400 new families, an increase of almost 1,000 (64%) on 2017. This means our frontline team have been really stretched and we’ve recently had to employ an additional member of staff to help us cope with such huge demand. Your support is therefore quite literally helping to ensure we can be there for these families when they are at their lowest ebb and need us most."

We are continually seeking new ways in which we can support and give back to society. We would love to hear any ideas you may have.