Taylor Wessing wins award for giving
Taylor Wessing, the international law firm, has won a Workplace Giving UK Thank You for Giving award, presented by Anne Snelgrove MP, for their commitment to raising money for charity through a Workplace Giving scheme.
Workplace Giving UK launched the annual Thank You for Giving awards last year at their first annual reception. According to Peter O’Hara, Managing Director of Workplace Giving UK, “We thought it was important to recognise those companies that have achieved at least 20% staff uptake of a Workplace Giving scheme – double the uptake recognised by the government’s Gold Quality Mark”. Taylor Wessing currently has a 30% uptake to the scheme amongst its staff and is raising £50,000 a year for good causes.
Jonathan Croucher from Taylor Wessing, who chairs the Firm's Community Initiative Committee, which oversees all its charitable and pro bono activities, commented;
“We are delighted to have won this award, reflecting the huge support our staff have shown to Payroll Giving. This scheme is the most tax efficient way to give to charity, particularly for those in the higher tax band and Workplace Giving's promotion of this scheme at our office has highlighted how easy it is to contribute and the difference each contribution can make."
Workplace Giving is a simple, tax efficient, scheme which allows employees to give to any charity they choose by having a deduction taken straight from their gross pay.
Workplace Giving is the only way for a higher rate tax payer to pass their 40% tax straight to their chosen cause as only 22% tax can be claimed back by charities under the Gift Aid scheme.
British charities still lose a staggering £900 million to the taxman every year – giving through Workplace Giving could substantially reduce this loss. Workplace Giving UK works with organisations to promote the Workplace Giving scheme to employees – this activity can typically increase employee participation in a scheme from around 2% to as much as 35%. Recent research by Oxfam and YouGov found that a third of British employees would give an average of £9.60 a month through their salary if they knew how to – this equates to a total of nearly £1bn annually.
For more information visit www.workplacegiving-uk.com
ENDS
Notes to editors:
About Workplace Giving UK
Workplace Giving UK is the UK’s leading Professional Fundraising Organisation promoting Workplace Giving in the workplace and recruited donors worth £1.3m to charity in 2006.
Workplace Giving was first launched on 5 April 1987. In its first full year, the scheme raised £1,034,695 for charities and in the tax year 2005/6 it raised £84,740,956. In 1987/8 the number of employees donating through Workplace Giving was 60,629; in 2005/6 more than 600,000 took part.
For media information about Workplace Giving UK please contact:
Rachel Corcoran or Linda Cohen on 01242 269170 ext 253 / 255 or email rachel.corcoran@redsignal.co.uk linda.cohen@redsignal.co.uk
About Taylor Wessing LLP
Taylor Wessing LLP is a leading law firm providing legal support for commercial organisations doing business in Europe, the Middle East and Asia. Based in Belgium, France, Germany and the UK, with offices in Shanghai and Dubai (associated), Taylor Wessing boasts a strong reputation in the corporate, finance and real estate sectors alongside in-depth experience across the full range of legal services including commercial, intellectual property and technology, tax, litigation & dispute resolution, employment & pensions and private clients.
For further information on Taylor Wessing LLP, please contact Claire Treacy or Sarah le Cheminant on 020 7300 4925 / 4930 or c.treacy@taylorwessing.com / s.lecheminant@taylorwessing.com
www.taylorwessing.com