<p class="summary">Charitable foundation set up by telecomms group will
offer funding worth about £300,000 this year, says management team chair
Tracy O'Brien</p>
<p>The telecommunications company Cable&Wireless Worldwide has
launched a charitable foundation and is inviting charities to apply for
funding worth about £300,000.</p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.cw.com/about-us/corporate-responsibility/community/foundation/" target="_blank">Cable&Wireless Worldwide Foundation</a>
said it would support registered charities that it could work with to
use communications technology to help improve the lives of people with
special needs.</p>
<p>The foundation will receive £200,000 this year from the company and
wants to raise a further £100,000 through employees' fundraising
activities.</p><p>
</p><p>Tracy O'Brien, chair of the foundation management team, said<em> </em>it
would be aiming to work with charities with which it could develop
partnerships. She said she wanted the foundation not only to provide
money, but also to access Cable&Wireless's expertise in
communications.</p>
<p>From the financial year 2012/13, said O'Brien, the foundation would
receive 0.5 per cent of the company's pre-tax profit, which was £132m
this year. It would also continue to receive money from employee
fundraising. She estimated the two together would amount to more than
£1m.</p>
<p>The available money was likely to be spent during each financial year rather than put into an endowment, said O'Brien.</p>
<p>O'Brien said the foundation was international, but that funding would
be given out in proportion to where Cable&Wireless staff were
based. The UK and India are its two largest bases.</p>
<p>"We're keen on long-term projects, but we won't discount short projects," she said.</p>
<p>"We hope to have a close relationship with our charity partners. We
want to maximise our resources to their benefit. Charities should make
it clear how this would work."</p>
<p>Charities that are interested in applying to the foundation should <a href="http://www.cw.com/about-us/corporate-responsibility/community/foundation/" target="_blank">visit its website</a>. The deadline for applications is 1 August.</p>
<br clear="all"><br>-- <br>Jaqui Devereux<br>Director, Community Media Association<br>0114 279 5219<br><br>
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