Isle of Man-based casino software developer Microgaming is celebrating a year since its PlayItForward initiative launched a dedicated space for employees to nominate and vote for worthy causes.
Resulting in excess of £50,000 being raised in charitable donations, the organisations corporate social responsibility programme, which is in its fifth year, continues to support communities in areas such as health, charity, education and sport.
In April last year the firm unveiled its employee-driven charitable voting scheme, aimed at driving engagement with the programme, which has attracted over 4,000 votes to date.
Kate Moughtin, senior CSR manager at Microgaming, said of PlayItForward and the landmark reached: “We have been overwhelmed by employee support for this new way of voting for good causes through PlayItForward.
“As a knock-on effect, the number of volunteers stepping forward to help with our charity work increased tenfold since the programme was introduced.
“I’d like to thank everyone who put forward a cause close to their heart, who took the time to take a vote and, overall, for helping us make a real difference in the community.”
Some of the charities that have so far directly benefited through PlayItForward include Isle of Man-based organisations The Family Library, Douglas Coal Fund, Cruse Bereavement Care, Naseem’s Manx Brain Tumour Charity, Craig’s Heartstrong Foundation, Isle of Play, The Arts Hub, Aid Rescue, Live At Home, and Traa dy Liooar.
PlayItForward not only supports charities and organisations with their work, but also individuals in need of a helping hand.
Paula Lunt, founder of Craig’s Heartstrong Foundation, explained: “My charity is about screening young people from the age of 14 to 35. We’ve screened over 8,000 young people and detected about 150 heart problems to date.
“We also donate defibrillators, having donated over 300 on the island. I would just like to thank everyone for voting for the Craig Heartstrong Foundation, the PlayItForward donation is amazing, it means so much and went towards our screening at the beginning of April.”
