For the fourth year running, Edrington staff members are gearing up for a major fundraising effort, with the travel retail division centrally involved.
Between 26 and 29 November, over 50 members of the Edrington Philanthropists in Cycling (EPIC) group will tackle a 611km ride from Nha Trang to Danang in Vietnam to raise money for Newborns Vietnam. The charity’s goal is to reduce neonatal mortality by working with local hospitals to train health care professionals and improve medical infrastructure.
Edrington is owned by The Robertson Trust, Scotland’s largest independent funder of charitable causes. Dividends from Edrington have enabled the trust to give away more than £230 million (US$299 million) to selected charities throughout Scotland since 1961. Since 2012 Edrington has donated more than £7 million (US$9.1 million) to international charities through its fundraising efforts.
Last year 50 riders from Edrington offices across the world cycled 600km across Cambodia to raise US$500,000 (£383,4000) for M’Lop Tapang, a local charity based in Sihanoukville which supports vulnerable children.
In 2016 Edrington’s Charity Cyclists raced through Taiwan and raised NTD 5 million (£128,000) for the Kaohsiung Autism Foundation, which aids children with special needs. In 2015, 17 cyclists rode 400km from Kuala Lumpur to Singapore and raised S$120,000 (£68,000) for Child at Street 11, a Singapore-based institution helping dysfunctional families break out of the poverty cycle.
Edrington Managing Director Global Travel Retail Igor Boyadjian said: “This year’s ride is destined to be yet another mentally and physically taxing challenge. This is true particularly for those that will be joining the ride for the first time, but the knowledge that they are supporting small and sick newborns will fuel all of our charity cyclists across the finish line.
“In Asia, thanks to the generous support of Edrington’s many friends, our annual fundraising drives have continued to grow, with our EPIC events acting as a conduit to fundraise for a number of inspiring causes.”
Boyadjian thanked the travel retail industry for its support and said Edrington will ‘double match’ the sums raised through the cycling event.
Online donations can be made here. For further information on the event and the charity it is supporting please visit edringtoncharitycyclists.com.
Note: Read more about travel retail’s many CSR initiatives in our new Duty Calls feature, coming soon.