Our Responsibility to Give Back to the Community

Our concerns are interlinked with the future of our workforce, as the charities we support help to comfort and care for the next generation. Giving kids and young adults the right support, ensures that the legacy of our industry will continue for many years to come.

We’ve built a business from nothing, and now we’re in a position where I believe it’s our moral duty to give back to those that are less fortunate. Even if we’ve helped one person along this journey, it’s all been worthwhile. – Sohin Raithatha

Last year we started building our relationship with One YMCA and the Watford Orbital Community Centre, by visiting them and inviting the young people there to come see us. This year, we have developed this relationship further by raising money to improve the centre’s facilities, and organising workshops to help them learn new skills. In April, Redsquid CEO Sohin Raithatha trekked across the world’s largest mountain range and successfully raised over £3000, which went towards employing new youth workers for the community centre.

In the summer, we held a workshop at our offices for a group of young people from the community centre. Over the course of two days, our visitors learnt what it takes to start a business, and developed useful skills in teamwork, planning, design, and presentation. Their presence brought a contagious energy to the office, and we clearly made an impact on them, as several of the guys asked whether they could come back for work experience, and another even asked for a job.

As a reward for participating in the workshop, Redsquid treated the guys to Nandos, and chatted about their upcoming activities at the youth centre. Sohin then braved a day of paintballing with the youngsters, which was greatly appreciated by both the participants, and the leaders at One YMCA. One YMCA CEO Guy Foxell commented on how wonderful the sessions with Redsquid were, and praised Redsquid’s generosity.

Our relationship with One YMCA is about more than just raising money for them, it’s also about giving them experiences that will teach them valuable life skills. This is why we are launching a work experience program, as well as mentoring sessions for One YMCA.

As our charity work continues to become a more important part of Redsquid’s corporate responsibility, we plan to hold more fundraising events in the future. For example, Sohin has plans to travel to Antarctica and trek across the ice next year, in an effort to raise more funds for One YMCA. With the promise of extremely low temperatures and several miles of snow, it looks to be a very serious challenge for him: he’s currently collecting donations on his JustGiving page now.

We’re also proud of the work that our resident Byte Night team has done to raise money for Action for Children, including running several bake sales and sponsored hikes. They successfully raised over £1000 between the four of them, and spent one night in October sleeping rough for the Byte Night event itself. We’re all very proud of what they’ve achieved.

To help Redsquid become more environmentally friendly, we are now part of the Trees for Cities corporate scheme, where we donate the money we make from recycling mobiles to help plant trees in urban areas. In addition to this, we’ve also pledged to not send out physical Christmas cards this year, in an effort to reduce waste and paper usage: instead, we will be donating the usual production costs (£200) to Trees for Cities.

We’re looking forward to providing more opportunities for our employees to get involved with upcoming charity projects. Which is why we’re in the process of setting up a charity committee designed to plan and organise any future fundraising events. It’s a very exciting time for Redsquid, as we continue to find ways to help others and give back to our community. So, we wish everyone a very Merry Christmas, and a charitable New Year.