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THE INVESTOR
A
focus on giving has
been part of the ethos
of St. James’s Place
since it was founded.
Its charitable arm, the
St. James’s Place
Foundation, was established in 1992.
Since then, more than £50 million has
been raised through the efforts of
Partners and staff, with 85% of them
taking part in fundraising activities from
cake-making to climbing Mount Everest.
One of the fundraisers is Marketing
Campaigns Executive Matt Cordas, who
went through six pairs of trainers and
24 T-shirts when he ran 5km every day
for a year to raise money for the
Foundation in 2014.Aged just 19 at the
time, he covered a distance equivalent to
running from Cirencester to Rome.‘At
the beginning, running 5km every day
was a personal challenge. But by the end
it was the idea of raising money for the
Foundation that got me through it,’ he says.
Matt raised more than £12,000, which
was fund-matched by St. James’s Place,
to make a total of £24,000.
Roger Owen, Head of Management
Development, was part of a team of 24
St. James’s Place staff and Partners who
raised more than £700,000 in 2012 on
an expedition to Mount Everest.A year
later he applied to the Foundation for
a grant to help renovate a school in the
village of Pangboche, home to many of
Everest’s Sherpas.The school was
originally built by explorer Sir Edmund
Hillary’s HimalayanTrust in 1963. Owen
also started a new charity, Supporting
Nepal’s Children, with the intention of
rebuilding 20 Nepalese schools by 2020.
Stephen Sutton, a 19-year-old with
cancer who raised more than £5 million
for theTeenage CancerTrust before
sadly losing his battle in May 2014,
spoke at the St. James’s Place Annual
Company Meeting in January 2014. He
raised £388,000 from staff and Partners
that day alone.‘The best way to help
yourself is to help others,’ he said.‘The
St. James’s Place Foundation can be very
proud of the help it gives.’
So can the Partners and employees.
Since it was founded, the Foundation has
supported hundreds of charities, making
it one of the most successful company
charities in the UK.
THE CHARITIES
The main focus of the Foundation is on
helping children and young people who
have special needs or are disadvantaged,
St.James’s Place employees and Partners have raised more than
£50 million for hundreds of charities over the past 25 years
BUILDING A SOLID
FOUNDATION
By Jill Insley
Matt Cordas
Marketing
Campaigns
Executive
ran 5km every
day for a year
6
Pairs of
trainers used
24
T-shirts worn
£12,000
Raised
more than