Marking a Million-Pound Milestone with RBC

Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) recently invited us to their City of London offices to celebrate an incredible £1 million raised through our partnership.

Our CEO, Ella Joseph, spoke at a ‘Lunch and Learn’, to help raise awareness of our Charity’s vital work among more RBC employees. It was also a chance for them to find out how they can get involved in fundraising and volunteering, to help us reach our next milestone.

Mum-of-two, Kate Algar, from Eastbourne in Sussex, shared her emotional experience of staying at the Ronald McDonald House Evelina London, when her 12-year-old son Tom was receiving life-saving treatment after he contracted E. Coli.

Kate said: “We were one of the families to benefit from fantastic initiatives organised by RBC, including ‘Takeaway Tuesdays’ and even a chocolate egg donation, gifted during our stay at the House over the Easter Holidays. It was a pleasure to speak at the event and share my personal experience of what it’s like to have a sick child in hospital when you are miles away from home.

“I certainly learnt a lot about the bank’s contribution to the Charity in terms of financial donations and volunteering hours and hope that I did my bit to encourage more volunteers. It was great to be able to thank RBC staff in person and show my appreciation for everything they do.”

RBC’s involvement with Ronald McDonald House Charities UK began in August 2015 after employee Jordan Lorch, who had volunteered for the New York chapter of Ronald McDonald House Charities, was transferred to London. After seeing the impact RBC’s volunteering had on the families the Charity supports in the US, he was keen to cultivate a relationship between RBC and Ronald McDonald House Charities UK. 

Since then, the partnership has gone from strength to strength. RBC’s bespoke package of support includes volunteering activities such as cooking, gardening, decorating, and organising themed events to give families a chance to make happy memories in our Houses. We have also been one of the beneficiary charities of RBC’s annual global charity initiative, RBC Charity Day for the Kids, which, alongside challenge events such as the Royal Parks Half Marathon, has helped to tip RBC’s fundraising total over the £1 million mark.

Graeme Pearson, Global Head of Research, RBC Capital Markets said:

“The passion and commitment of RBC employees is what makes our relationship with Ronald McDonald House Charities UK so special. The majority of our fundraising and volunteering initiatives are organised by employees and we always have huge support by individuals and teams to get involved. It’s been fantastic to return to in-person events and volunteering this year, enabling visits to the Houses and for employees to see the impact of their support first-hand.

“We’re so proud that our employees have helped us raise over £1 million and donated over 4,500 volunteer hours to this great charity to date and that we could celebrate in our office with representatives from the charity. We look forward to growing our support even further in 2023 so that we can help even more families going through such difficult times.”

Ella Joseph, CEO at Ronald McDonald House Charities UK, said: “It was fantastic to get together with RBC colleagues to celebrate this special milestone and talk about our shared values and what the future holds for our partnership. On behalf of the thousands of families we support each year, we want to thank RBC sincerely for their huge efforts in fundraising and volunteering for our Charity and look forward to more events and initiatives with them in 2023 and beyond.”