15 March

The Lord Mayor hosts our City Giving Day launch

The Lord Mayor of the City of London Alderman Nicholas Lyons and Lady Mayoress were joined by a number of high-profile guests and speakers at Mansion House this week, for the launch of City Giving Day.

Now in its 10^th year, City Giving Day is an annual event hosted by The Lord Mayor’s Appeal uniting the City to celebrate and promote the positive impact of philanthropy. Taking place on Tuesday 26 September 2023, it gives companies the chance to showcase their charitable and community work – collectively sharing their community outreach via the City Giving Day webpage and social media. Whether City businesses support The Lord Mayor’s Appeal, or their own chosen charities – it gives companies a platform to tell their fundraising and volunteering stories and to collaborate with other businesses within the City community.   

The City Giving Day launch is the rallying call for companies to register and be inspired to start forming event ideas from hosting an office sports day to organizing a company-wide sponsored silence. The annual breakfast in the Egyptian Hall at Mansion House, hosts a series of honoured guests from Alderman and Sheriffs of the City to CSR professionals and senior business leaders.  

Shine a spotlight on what the City has always done well but never really talked about 

Highlights this year included a rousing opening speech from The Lord Mayor who asked participants to, “Shine a spotlight on what the City has always done well but never really talked about. Whether you do something on a grand scale or do it on a small scale, do something. City Giving Day is our opportunity to show the world what we do for the most vulnerable people in our society.”

Other guest speakers included Lea Milligan, CEO of our charity partner, MQ Mental Health Research who said, “We’re so excited to be working with The Lord Mayor’s Appeal to generate more breakthroughs. Working in partnership, we’ll aim to carry out pioneering research into the cost-of-living crisis and our mental health, fund the most promising new research projects with an emphasis on generating results for those affected by mental illness and increase participation in mental health research through our bespoke Participate platform.” 

He gave guests an insight into how they can help to create a world where mental illnesses are understood, effectively treated and eventually prevented and promised guests“we want to work with companies in the City to make sure our research has impart on the ground.”

Andrew Izzet Lee, Group Corporate Responsibility Manager at Mott MacDonald spoke on how the company “wanted to participate in City Giving Day because it helps us recognise key causes and community organisations within our City. It also helps us appreciate the time and effort of our people who go above and beyond to contribute. City Giving Day gives us a platform to build momentum and encourage others to get involved.”

City Giving Day gives us a platform to build momentum and encourage others to get involved

Fiona McArthur, Social Value Manager at Skanska shared how they intend to “focus on activities that will support our social value aspirations with expertise-based volunteering” for their fifth year participating in City Giving Day.

To further inspire philanthropic ideas and get the ball rolling on corporate collaboration, guests were then led in round-table discussions by a series of VIP guests and representatives from some of the City’s most prevalent companies including Bank of China, Bloomberg, Skanska, Cleary Gottlieb LLP and Aon while grazing on a breakfast of bacon and egg rolls, pastries and fruit. The Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress joined other City representatives in getting behind City Giving Day selfie frames, posting their pictures on social media to help spread the word.

In addition to their own fundraising activities, The Lord Mayor’s Appeal also host a number of annual City Giving Day events which companies are welcome to join. These include Tour de City, astatic Wattbike challenge where company teams of up to five people compete against each other in a thrilling 40 minute static bike race, divided into five eight-minute slots; City Walks – a one hour lunchtime walking tour taking place around the City hosted by expert City of London Guides; a Treasure Hunt inviting teams of up to six people to solve a series of clues discovering some little known facts about the City of London; and a Quiz Night challenging teams of up to six to test their general knowledge and compete with the greatest minds in the City. 

Funds raised by The Lord Mayor’s Appeal on City Giving Day will be used to support the work of their three charity partners National Numeracy, MQ Mental Health Research and The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award. Aiming to create a Better City for All that is Inclusive, Healthy, Skilled and Fair, The Appeal’s thought leadership initiatives Power of Inclusion, This is Me, We Can Be and City Giving Day offer learning, development and engagement opportunities for employees across the Square Mile.

Register for City Giving Day here