Announcements

RB Press release - 11/09/2007
First ever Global Challenge for charity

From raising mountains of cash, to climbing them: Reckitt Benckiser employees are getting ready for the first ever Global Challenge trek in aid of Save the Children

In October 2007, 50 Reckitt Benckiser employees from around the world will take part in the first ever Global Challenge to raise funds for Save the Children through its Save 100,000 Lives campaign. In 2006 Save 100,000 Lives (www.save100000lives.com) was launched, with a target to raise £1million by the end of 2008  to help 100,000 children.  The cost of providing basic health and hygiene support for one child is £10 hence with a £1 million target 100,000 lives will be saved.   Already, in September 2007, the huge response from Reckitt Benckiser employees around the globe means that they have almost reached the £1 million target, ahead of schedule.

The trek will take place in the foothills of the Himalayas, concluding with a visit to a Save the Children project in Calcutta.  The 50 participants were selected from more than 350 applications from Reckitt Benckiser's employees, received from over 30 countries. The trek is truly global in its scope: trekkers from the following countries will be taking part: Bangladesh, Brazil, Belarus, Canada, Colombia, France, Gemany, Greece, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Korea, Mexico, South Africa, Spain, USA, Ukraine and the UK. The selection was conditional on each of the participants raising an agreed amount of sponsorship, as well as committing themselves to be fit enough to walk 60 km over 5 days, most of this uphill!

Fundraising targets were set at £2500 per person (£1000 for trekkers from Developing Markets) and many participants have raised sums far beyond this. Anand Sharma  from the UK  and Bev Wilen from the  US  have each raised nearly £10,000 and several other are fast-approaching £5,000.  The range and scope of fundraising activities reflects the diverse nations involved: from a  product sale in Germany to karoake in China! It is expected that the huge efforts of fundraisers means the £100, 000  target for this challenge will  will be met, with half of the funds raised from the Global Challenge going  towards  supporting Save the Children's child domestic workers  programmes in West Bengal.

The partnership has also inspired Reckitt Benckiser employees to become ambassadors for Save the Children, raising awareness about the work it does. Kiril Yarosevich from Belarus was initially struggling to raise his £1,000 target but after holding talks in 3 of the offices and putting up posters in the receptions he successfully raised over £1,000.

The Reckitt Benckiser enthusiasm is contagious: even those unable to take part in the Global Challenge have decided to set up their own personal challenges. Stuart Shaw from Hull, England is trekking over mountains too - on his 330 km walk from St Bees on the Irish Sea to Scarborough to raise money for the campaign.

Bart Becht, CEO, Reckitt Benckiser said:

"At Reckitt Benckiser, we have committed ourselves to raising £1million to fund Save the Children health and hygiene programmes to save 100,000 children's lives.  I am very excited to see that we have our own trekkers, coming from many parts of our business all around the world, who will be working together to make a substantial contribution to helping children's lives.  They are an inspiration to all of us and I hope you will give them your passionate support."

Every three seconds a child dies from a preventable disease. 30,000 every day, almost 11 million each year. It is an outrage these children die because they do not have access to immunisations and basic healthcare and half are killed by four easily preventable diseases: diarrhoea, pneumonia, malaria and measles. The money raised by Reckitt Benckiser  will be spent on direct interventions - eg: vaccinations, antibiotics, vitamin A supplements, bed nets to prevent malaria, behaviour change, eg: encouraging mothers to exclusively breast feed, giving traditional birth attendants the skills to safely deliver babies at home and policy and advocacy, to increase access to quality health care for all children.

"Childhood only happens once. For some it doesn't happen at all. Reckitt Benckiser's Save 100,000 Lives campaign will have a direct impact on some of the most vulnerable children Save the Children works with."  Jasmine Whitbread, CEO, Save the Children. 

Reckitt Benckiser has been working with Save the Children since the end of 2003 helping raise money for vulnerable children in some of the world's most deprived areas. The relationship provides the opportunity for Reckitt Benckiser operations and people worldwide to work toward a common goal of making a difference to the lives of these children.

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For more information please contact:

Reckitt Benckiser Corporate Communications:            +44(0)1753 217800
Email address:                                                                    corpcomms@rb.com

Save the Children Press Office:                                        +44 (0)2070126848
Email address:                                                                     s.parker@savethechildren.org.uk