Goldman Sachs more than doubles its UK charity spend
Goldman Sachs has been in the wars of late, reputationally at least, what with former employer Greg Smith claiming that his bosses sometimes described their clients as muppets. Smith also argued that the firm had been losing its moral compass.
So it is good to see in the investment bank’s latest accounts that it is still handsomely supporting a wide spectrum of charities.
In the UK, Goldman handed out a total of £19.1m in 2011 compared to £8m the year before. The money went to charities in a number of sectors, including arts and culture; community; education; and humanitarian and medical. Specific charities given support by Goldman include Right to Play and Greenhouse; Debra; Opportunity International (the microfinance charity City A.M. supported in its first-ever christmas appeal); the veterans’ mental health charity Combat Stress and City Year London.
Yesterday, Debra, which describes itself as for people whose skin doesn’t work, revealed the Goldman contribution of £500,000 to be its single biggest donation.
Debra is a national charity that works with families affected by Epidermolysis Bullosa (EB), an agonising skin condition which causes the skin to blister with the slightest injury.
Debra’s CEO, Ben Merrett, said: “Without this most generous contribution, the research we have planned would not have been able to take place so soon.”
All city workers sporting scuffed up shoes should head to Tower 42, Liverpool Street today from 8am as the charity Street Kids
International UK is attempting to break a World Record for shoe shining. A volunteer is hoping to shine over 200 pairs of shoes in eight hours to draw attention to the millions of young people forced to earn a living in the streets around the world. In a recent Optinum Research survey, the majority of UK parents agreed that having a paid part time job helps children develop independence and new skills. This dramatically differs from the work of street children, who are often left to survive on their own by finding jobs such as shoe shiners to scrape together enough money for essentials like food. The shoe shiner will stop polishing at 4pm.