Matthew Platts

Executive Director, Media & Performance, Dentsu Aegis Network UK&I

society

Last week we hosted the fourth Big Bang Ball, our annual charity gala in support of University College Hospital (UCH) Cancer Fund.

 

While the event itself is our largest fundraising effort for UCH Cancer Fund each year. It is part of a much deeper, long-term, partnership that we are honoured to have established back in 2014 with the team at our media trading arm, Amplifi.

 

Back then, we set out to build all of our CSR initiatives around a single issue that was important to all of our people.  When cancer came top of the list, we were proud to become the very first corporate partner of the newly formed charity, UCH Cancer Fund.  

 

Together in five years we’ve raised more than £300,000 which has been used to support several initiatives in the UCH Cancer Centre and the Hospital. From upgrading treatment rooms to the launch of the UCLH Cancer Academy - a first-of-its-kind initiative that comprises four schools designed to equip people with cancer, their families and carers with the tools that they need to respond to the challenges that cancer presents. 

 

Our involvement with UCH Cancer doesn’t end at fundraising; we have leveraged our position in the media industry to drive positive impacts for UCH Cancer Fund and its beneficiaries. From engaging Digital Cinema Media (DCM) and 20th Century Fox to deliver regular film screenings for young cancer patients and their families, to using our skills, connections and know-how to help UCH Cancer Fund raise its visibility in north London, particularly around its game-changing partnership with north London rugby club Saracens. 

 

Today we’ve got a connection with UCH Cancer Fund that I don’t believe you would find with another charity. We work together in four areas: fundraising activities, holistic volunteering, partnering for impact and sharing skills and knowledge. It doesn’t feel like a typical charity-company relationship. We have become much more integrated into what UCH are doing and Social Impact is now part of who we are as a business.

 

I am also extremely proud that our partnership with UCH Cancer Fund is part of the Common Ground initiative, Dentsu Aegis Network’s commitment to Good Health and Well-Being, one of the United Nations 17 Sustainable Development Goals.