COVID-19: Our Global Support Programme
Our Global Support Programme aims to bring more financial relief, protective materials and medicine donations to healthcare institutions and communities in need around the world. The programme focuses on four areas:
- Donations: We have made available €5.8 million for financial and in-kind donations for local emergency aid across the globe. In the UK, we are donating funds to The Children’s Society and the Berkshire Community Foundation to help them support those who have been most affected by the crisis.
- Research for COVID-19 therapies: Since January, we have freed up a growing team of more than 100 highly engaged scientists globally from all areas of research and development (R&D) to work on projects aimed at finding potential treatment solutions for COVID-19. As this work evolves, we will commit further experts from multiple disciplines, as well as increased lab capacity.
- Volunteering: In many communities, helping hands from volunteers, for example with a medical or nursing background, are urgently needed. We are offering all our 51,000 employees globally the opportunity to take up to 10 days of paid leave to join approved external organisations as a volunteer to bring COVID-19 relief.
- Making More Health relief fund: A €580,000 relief fund has been launched to support the global Making More Health (MMH) network of social entrepreneurs in Kenya and India, as well as the communities in which they live and work.
NP-IE-100305 | April 2020