EU migrant crisis: Visa Europe donates £1m to child refugee crisis appeal as Save the Children thanks business donations
Visa Europe has donated £1m to the appeal which is raising money to help child refugees in Europe as the situation reaches crisis point.
The financial services company has dug deep to donate to Save the Children's Child Refugee Crisis Appeal, saying the situation needed an exceptional response.
“Visa Europe has a longstanding track record of supporting good causes and our employees are second to none when it comes to raising money and giving time. But the unprecedented scale of this crisis right on our doorstep requires an exceptional response. All our markets are affected and collectively we all need to play our part," said Visa Europe's head of communications Fiona Wilkinson.
Visa isn't the only major corporation to respond to the crisis appeal, as Save the Children's chief executive Justin Forsyth thanked the several major businesses for the support the charity had received.
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Google has promised to match any donation made through its landing page up to €5m and GSK has donated £150,000, promising to match funds raised by staff.
RB (formerly Reckitt Benckiser) has put funds towards the appeal one of the charity's biggest corporate supporters and Ikea staff are being offered the chance to "work a day for free" and donate a day's salary to the camapign.
Ernst & Young, Johnson & Johnson, Pearson and the Swarovski Foundation have also made donations through staff fundraising schemes.
Other donation drives include Uber's free pick ups for unwanted items donated to Save the Children's shops, Virgin's in-flight appeal to passengers and Apple donating the proceeds from a charity song by Crowded House on iTunes to the fundraising appeal.
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“These are tragic and desperate times for child refugees and their families, children are fleeing bombs, bullets and torture in war zones like Syria, only to drown in European waters. But it’s incredibly humbling to see people come together at a time of crisis and thanks to the generous support of our partners and the public we can do even more to stop children dying on our doorstep," said Forsyth.
The charity has raised more than £3m in just under two weeks from corporate partners as well as the general public.