FG Wilson staff raise £43,000 for Macmillan

A ‘bring a pound to work day’ venture, cakes sales, football tournaments, golf competitions and a weight loss challenge were amongst the initiatives undertaken to raise the funds for the charity of the year. Staff also had a kayaking event, raffles, sponsored runs and sponsored cycles.

Workers at the company’s plants and offices in Larne, Monkstown and Springvale were involved in the efforts to support the charity and will now turn their attention to raising money for PIPS (Public Initiative for the Prevention of Suicide & Self-Harm), the company’s charity of the year for 2012.

Lisa McGrogan from Macmillan, who collected the, praised the company and its staff for their efforts.

“The money raised by FG Wilson will go a long way towards alleviating the stress and worry of terminally ill patients as well as aftercare for those who are surviving cancer,” she says.

“We are delighted to say that the total from FG Wilson this year has exceeded all our expectations and has led to the most successful partnership that FG Wilson has supported over the years.

“It has been an absolute pleasure working with such a motivated and generous group of people.”

Macmillan Cancer Support was established in 1911 and today is one of the largest cancer support charities in the UK. Macmillan Cancer Support provides a range of services to help improve the lives of people affected by cancer.

PIPS was established in 2003 as a community response to rising suicide rates in Belfast. Their mission is to save lives through reducing suicides by delivering training in suicide prevention and providing support to those in suicidal crises. Last year saw the highest number of suicides on record in Northern Ireland at 313 and rates in Belfast are particularly high. PIPS sees an average of 20 new clients in suicidal crisis every week.

FG Wilson, which employees over 2,500 people, is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Caterpillar. It is one of Northern Ireland’s biggest private sector employers and one of its biggest exporters. The company also has production facilities in Brazil, China, India and USA and an expert dealer network spanning over 130 countries.