£70,000 raised and donated in AABi’s first year

The Anderson Anderson & Brown Charitable Initiative (AABi), the charity run by Aberdeen-based accountancy firm Anderson Anderson & Brown, has donated an incredible £70,000 of funding to 45 different charities and causes after its first year in operation.

AABi has also donated over 1,250 of volunteering time to numerous charities across the Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire, including AAB staff being involved in 10 different education/mentoring programmes.

Launched just over one year ago, AABi is the platform which facilitates everyone at AAB to be able to invest in the communities in which they operate by seeking partnerships with charities and inviting applications from worthy causes for donations, grants and volunteer time.

The volunteering time is delivered by AAB staff who are all allocated volunteer leave each year.

Some of the charities who have benefited from AABi funding include North East Sensory Services, who were able to fund a weekend residential trip for 10 children with visual and/or hearing impairments.

AABi also funded Spinal Research UK’s specialist research project on spinal repair, which is being undertaken at The University of Aberdeen, and also enabled Shazam Theatre Company to hire The Tivoli theatre to perform Peter Pan last summer. In addition to sponsoring local football, hockey, netball and gymnastic groups.

Included in the 1,250 hours of volunteering time were AAB staff painting the tables and riding school at SSPCA, assisting in the café at VSA’s Easter Anguston Farm and helping in both the garden and an arts class at Linn Moor Residential School.

The education initiatives AAB staff have been volunteering with include Career Ready, Leadership Academy at Transition Extreme and the University of Aberdeen’s Star Awards. In addition to this, the firm undertake their own activities with local primary and secondary schools, as well as the College and both Universities.

Graeme Allan, one of the AABi Trustees, said: “The trustees are absolutely delighted to see the incredible impact which has been made across our community in the first year of AABi. The funds we have available for our grant donations are all raised by activities the staff at AAB undertake and it is fantastic to see how far their efforts can reach. Equally, we are thrilled to have been able to participate in so many worthy volunteering activities and are currently gearing up for our next year of volunteering.

“We truly care about investing in the communities in which we operate and look forward to receiving more applications from worthy causes throughout our second year of grant rounds.

“On behalf of the trustees, I would like to thank the staff at AAB for their hard work in raising funds and giving their time but equally we would like to thank the local charities who have applied to AAB and opened us up to new relationships with so many wonderful causes and we are grateful to be able to play a small part in their continued success.”