Cytoplan is proudly owned by a charitable foundation, and year upon year we look to do as much as we can for those who are less fortunate than ourselves. Whether it is a small collection among employees or a larger contribution to an international charitable scheme, we look to stay charitably active all year round.
As we move towards the end of 2016, we feel it is a fitting time to give you, our loyal customers, an overview of some of the charitable work that Cytoplan, and our charitable owners The AIM Foundation, have been involved in throughout the year.
AIM Foundation
The charitable foundation that owns Cytoplan is the AIM Foundation and we are a product of their ideology. They are an organisation concerned with nutrition, health and well-being projects, as well as helping those less able to help themselves in various communities in the UK (e.g. the Essex Community Foundation), where they are currently focussing their time on helping to train health professionals to identify and refer women suffering from domestic abuse to get appropriate support.
Here is a quick recap of some of the charitable activities that AIM has been, and still is, involved in.
Health Empowerment through Nutrition (HETN)
For many years, AIM has supported ‘Health empowerment Through Nutrition’ (HETN), a registered charity that is at the ‘forefront of exploring the relationship between nutrition and chronic disease’, and is also prominent in raising awareness of the importance of sustaining sufficient levels of nutrients for optimum health.
The Bredesen Protocol™
More recently, AIM has offered substantial funding to our exciting new collaboration with Professor Dale Bredesen – and The Bredesen Protocol™ – to help bring his work surrounding Alzheimer’s to the UK.
The Bredesen Protocol™, a multi-factorial lifestyle and nutrition based approach to treating, and reversing, early onset Alzheimer’s, has so far successfully reversed Alzheimer’s symptoms in 90% of 110 people.
As part of this collaboration we are organising first a pre-trial, and then a full trial, in the UK for subjects with stages 2 or 3 Alzheimer’s disease. UK doctors will be involved in the research and it is planned that we will also be working with a UK University in terms of the research evaluation and protocols.
The AIM Foundation have made a commitment of £250,000 to help fund this project.
Projects influencing social change and policy
AIM has supported Impetus-PEF, a venture philanthrophy organisation, for over six years. Impetus supports the most disadvantaged 11-24 year olds, so that they succeed in education, achieve their potential and gain employment. It achieves this through investing funds and management resources in a range of effective charities addressing this issue and build’s their management capacity to replicate their methods and reach more teenagers.
For example Think Forward provides super coaches to the most at risk 14 year olds in East London schools. From this knowledge base they are able to influence government policy in this area. The other area that AIM is trying to promote a policy change is in the measurement of Well-being Economics, as an alternative to GDP, through the work of the think tank New Economics Foundation and their Centre for Well-being.
In 2016 they launched their ‘Third Report of Happy Planet Index’, which compares global inequalities of life expectancy and life satisfaction. An education programme will be delivered to young people about “good lives do not have to cost the earth”.
Projects addressing youth development
AIM has also provided funding to a selection of charities, addressing the issues facing disadvantaged young people, by raising their confidence and potential and preventing further difficulties later in their lives. AIM’s donations have gone towards:
- The Wave Trust’s work trying to address the causes of child abuse and neglect through the setting up three pioneering communities where health and social care and voluntary sector work together to identify families with the most difficulties and give parenting support during late pregnancy and the first two years of child’s development.
- The “Hidden Harm” project that focuses on the damaging effects of substance abuse of parents on their children.
- The Lighthouse group provides trained volunteer personal coaches to support primary school pupils through emotional problems, who are at risk of failing academically.
- The Who Cares? Trust programme for Young Trainers supports young people by using their experience of care to prepare and deliver training to professionals who are responsible for children in the care system.
The AIM Foundation has also played a pivotal role in the following successful campaigns; Jubilee 2000, Sustran’s Cycle Network and Essex Community Foundation, with large grants and management support over a number of years. You can read about these campaigns in more detail by following the link to our previous charity blog.
Cytoplan’s charitable work
Whether it is a global campaign involving external organisations or an office collection among employees, at Cytoplan we place a huge emphasis and importance on being charitably active all year round. Below is a summary of our charitable activity throughout the last couple of years.
Nepal Earthquake – Reconstruction of Shree Bigyan Primary School
On the 25th April 2015 a 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck Nepal killing around 8,000 people and devastating the lives of countless more. At the time, the BBC reported that on top of these harrowing statistics, nearly 5,000 schools were destroyed leaving an estimated 1 million children unable to return to education.
One school that was destroyed in the earthquake was Shree Bigyan Primary School located in the Gorkha district, one of the worst affected areas of the disaster.
As you may be aware from our charity blog last year, one of our main charitable goals of 2015 was to raise £7000 to help rebuild this school that was destroyed by this devastating earthquake. Here at Cytoplan we held a sponsored run from our offices to the top of the Worcestershire beacon, cake sales, car boot sales and various other fundraising activities to help raise the £7000.
We are very pleased to share with you that the reconstruction of this school, managed by the charity JustAid, has been completed this year. Below is a short extract taken from the final report:
“The construction work was successfully conducted despite unfavourable geographical factors, as well as a difficult political situation at the time. The local community also contributed towards the successful completion of the new school building as they understood the dire need of the students.
Most interestingly, the new school building has been able to attract the attention of absentee students and the number of student attending is increasing day by day. The school staffs are finding the new environment to be hugely improved and they are hopeful for the successful completion of the academic activities for the year.
Similarly, the school, parents and the local community are optimistic for a better future for the students in the upcoming years. They also hope that this project will be successful in increasing the rate of the school enrolment in this school as this had been decreasing in recent years. Overall, the project has been a huge success for the students, teachers and the community.”
Life for African Mothers
Life for African Mothers is a Maternal Health charity aiming to make birth safer in Sub Saharan Africa, by providing medication to treat eclampsia and post-partum haemorrhage. By providing medication to treat the complications of child birth, Life for African Mothers have been able to support hospitals and health centres across Africa and see huge reductions in maternal mortality.
Last year we donated folic acid supplements to the wonderful charity and these were sent to Cameroon, on the Gulf of Guinea in Central Africa. From June 2015 LFAM have started to supply health centres in Cameroon with Misoprostol. LFAM now also help to supply and distribute vitamins, essential in the development of healthy pregnant women and their babies.
Sport Relief Bike Challenge
In March of this year, the whole team at Cytoplan took part in a ‘cyclathon’, where between us we aimed to cycle the length of the River Severn (220 miles) between the working hours of 9 and 5. This equated to around 10 miles each within 45 minutes, and we are pleased to say that we completed the challenge, raising £634 along the way!
Local charitable work
All year round, the office also endeavours to participate in many other fundraising activities for wonderful causes, this year we got involved in Red Nose Day, wear pink for breast cancer, a coffee morning for Macmillan, a day for Children in Need and other bake sales and car boot sales. On average we look to raise around £3000 a year among employees.
A big Thank You
Every customer who purchases our products, whether it be once, twice or ten times a year, is helping us to try and help those who are much less fortunate than ourselves. You may not realise it, but every time you buy from us, you are potentially helping someone else. We believe this is a sound business model: one that we are very proud of and one that hopefully, in time, will achieve the goals we have set ourselves, to improve the health of the nation and the rest of the world too! Our charitable work – both on a small and large scale – is testament to this.
We hope that this information has given you a small insight into the charitable structure of Cytoplan and the significant role it plays in the day to day running of the company. We hope you continue to support us in the future in whatever way you can.
If you have any questions regarding the topics that have been raised, or any other health matters please do contact me (Clare) by phone or email at any time.
clare@cytoplan.co.uk, 01684 310099
The Cytoplan editorial team: Joseph Forsyth & Clare Daley
Last updated on 6th June 2018 by cytoffice
I regularly use and recommend your excellent products. I didn’t realise your company supported so many charities. Well done all at Cytoplan! #changinglives
Yes Brilliant work Cytoplan !
If only far more companies had this attitude, Well done. Do you read Positive News ? Perhaps you should, you would find much inspiring news there.