Nucleus staff celebrate huge fundraising total

Nucleus celebrate big fundraising total!

Staff at Nucleus, an Edinburgh-based financial services company, are celebrating after raising a total of £67,902 over two years to help fight back against motor neurone disease (MND).

The company started supporting MND Scotland in January 2019 after staff member, the late Mike Wallis, was diagnosed with the progressive terminal illness.

Mike (left) pictured above with Nucleus CEO David Ferguson (right) passed away in May 2020.

Over the past two years the team at Nucleus have raised money for the charity by holding a series of events to raise the total, including bake sales, bucket collections at ScotRail stations during MND Action Week, and buying a Bronze sponsorship table for their staff at MND Scotland’s Cornflower Ball.

In November 2019, the team held a ‘Lunch and Learn’ event where staff had the opportunity to hear from the charity’s staff members about the work they do to support people across Scotland living with MND. This was followed by a Great British Bake Off style event, where the company’s staff members presented their best cakes and bakes to raise money.

Nucleus was also the first company to trial contactless donations in their offices to encourage on-the-spot donations from staff members at fundraising events.

Despite the challenges surrounding COVID-19 the team at Nucleus has continued to fundraise during the pandemic by staging virtual fundraising events including virtual bingo and table quizzes. One very brave member of the team even shaved his head to raise money!

Morag McGown, Corporate Partnerships Manager for MND Scotland, said: “I’d like to thank all of the team at Nucleus for raising such a fantastic total to support people living with MND across Scotland.

“Mike’s diagnosis of MND really showed the people at Nucleus what this cruel disease can do to people and it was so wonderful to see the staff put their hearts and souls into fundraising for Mike.

“The creativity of staff to raise money while working from home has been incredible. Every penny is already being used to make life better for people with MND and provide hope for a future without MND.

“During the pandemic many of the charity’s services, which rely on face-to-face contact, had to be suspended and replaced with a package of digital services. Because of supporters like Nucleus, we had the resources to invest and launch a raft of digital services, such as virtual support groups, enhanced financial grants, and one-to-one telephone support, to ensure that no one is facing MND alone.

“We have also just celebrated one year since the launch of the UK’s biggest MND clinical drug trial in a generation, to test new MND treatments. We couldn’t have made that happen without incredible supporters across Scotland, including corporate supporters like Nucleus Financial.”

If you’re interested in selecting MND Scotland as your charity partner, or if you’re just interested in fundraising at work, please contact Morag at morag.mcgown@mndscotland.org.uk or call us on 0141 332 3903.