As an agency, finding your own purpose away from delivering excellent client work and creating a brilliant culture isn’t always easy. Especially in the fast paced world of PR for active lifestyle brands.
But in 2022, Aspire took a big step back and decided to make a change. We started building a corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategy, Movement for Good, focusing on three key pillars:
- sustainability
- diversity and inclusion
- mental health
The idea is to help us become more socially responsible and environmentally friendly and give back to the communities and causes we care about.
One way we can make a difference in these areas is to offer pro-bono work each year. As part of our CSR strategy, we are making an annual commitment to donate our time and expertise to causes that can have a positive impact on sustainability, diversity and mental health.
Offering PR expertise to help others
In 2022, we are particularly proud to have invested £20,000 worth of our time to causes we care deeply about and can make a difference.
Raising nearly £30k to fight cancer
After initiating a partnership between OOFOS and The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity in 2021, we ‘gifted’ time throughout 2022 to amplify the partnership and support the charity in their fundraising efforts. We were part of a team that helped raise nearly £30,000 towards life-saving research and world-leading treatment and care.
Getting a world record charity cycle on the front page
We also had the privilege of supporting Cyclists Fighting Cancer in its fundraising mission to raise awareness about childhood cancer and the benefits of exercise and activity.
We kicked off our pro-bono PR work by supporting a Guinness World Record attempt, which saw 14 people cycle from John O’Groats to Land’s End in just seven days on a seven-seater conference bike!
In just a month, we secured over 200 pieces of coverage and helped this incredible charity exceed its £20,000 fundraising target.
Supporting a summer of gratitude
We donated our time to help Run Grateful in its bid to drive global growth championing gratitude through movement last summer.
Our Managing Director, Layla Smith, took part in a 24-hour challenge that saw her run a mile an hour, every hour, for 24 hours while dedicating every mile to someone or something she was grateful for.
As a team, we have run a grateful mile on many occasions over the last few months. Sharing our stories and experiences to promote positive mental wellbeing makes us feel good whilst doing good.
Saving 10,000 running shoes from landfill
We’re also immensely proud to have supported Tony Piedade’s amazing initiative Jog On.
Through an earned media campaign in November and December 2022, we helped Jog On reach its goal of 10,000 pairs of running shoes donated and prevented from going to landfill. This year sees us continuing to support Tony to amplify the initiative in different ways.
Thank you to all these inspiring people and charities for letting us be a part of your stories. We’re beyond proud of what we are achieving and doing as an agency.
After all, who doesn’t want the chance to do some good, make a difference and embed ‘giving back’ deeply into a company’s culture?
For more information about our CSR strategy and how our PR services can help, contact layla@aspirepr.co.uk.
