SEIB’s charity awards set to return for 2021

Back again for 2021, the SEIB Charity Awards are open for nominations, so put your choice of charity forward to give them the chance to win a life-changing grant

Returning for its fourth year, the SEIB Insurance Brokers Charity Awards offers good causes the chance to win a grant from a pool of more than £40,000. The winning charity will receive £10,000 and a charity with a turnover of less than £100,000 will receive £8,000, while the remaining £25,000 will be split between eight runners up. The grants will be presented at the awards lunch in June 2021.

Nominations are now open and will close at 5pm on 12 January 2021. A shortlist will then be compiled from your nominations, from which SEIB clients will have the final vote for their favourite projects. SEIB Chief Executive Officer Barry Fehler explained: “At SEIB we firmly believe in contributing to the common good. The challenges of the past year have made this even more important and I’m delighted that we’re able to grant money to the causes that really matter to our loyal customers. The feedback we’ve had from recipients of our previous grants is humbling.”

Despite previous years’ grants going towards capital projects, with the financial difficulties brought on by Covid-19, the rule was changed for 2020 and will be for 2021, too. This year, the grants may be used for immediate needs, including running costs. The awards will focus on smaller charities, too, with the maximum turnover for nominees capped at £10m.

CEO of Redwings, who was a joint winner last year, Lynn Cutress said: “We were incredibly grateful to be awarded £15,000 by SEIB at their awards this year. It came at a time when our donations had been significantly impacted by the first coronavirus lockdown and was a welcome boost at a very challenging time. Since then, this grant has been put towards the annual running of our Horse Hospital, in particular towards the cost of veterinary equipment and medication that ensures our 1,500 rescued horses and donkeys can live happy and healthy lives at the sanctuary.”

Sally Crawford, Executive Director of Engagement and Income Generation at Bransby Horses, who shared the top prize money allocation with Redwings, said: “We’re absolutely delighted with the incredible £15,000 awarded to us by SEIB. The pandemic meant we had to close our visitor centre – a vital source of funding – for several months, and this has obviously had a serious impact on our charity work. The money we’ve been so kindly awarded will go towards purchasing an all-terrain vehicle that we can use at our Barlings site where over 50 horses and ponies have been moved as a result of our Bransby land being ravaged by floods.”

For more information, visit seib.co.uk