Santander’s offshore savings subsidiary, Alliance & Leicester International based in Douglas Isle of Man, ran its ‘12 Days of Christmas’ campaign for the third successive year during December 2010. The chosen charities were offered the opportunity to apply for a cash donation, resulting from money raised through weekly dress down days held during the year, or manpower assistance to help at a fund raising event. The bank also offered to match up to ?3,500 of funds raised at the event via its parent company’s matched funding scheme – ‘The Santander Foundation’. Over 80 applications were received, and the decision panel chose 12 charities in each of the two categories. The winners were announced for each category from the 8th to 23rd December live on the 3FM ‘Morning Crew’ breakfast show, and were displayed on a giant advent calendar daily in the Alliance & Leicester Douglas branch. Those that benefitted were invited to a winner’s reception at Douglas Town Hall hosted by Mayor Councillor Richie McNicholl and Mayoress Julie McNicholl on the 20th January where the winners were each awarded certificates. Commenting on the campaign, community affairs manager George Campbell said - “We were once again over-whelmed by the number of applications received and it was a difficult task deciding the eventual winners. The decision panel, which consisted of bank staff, picked a broad range of charities and activities to support, and the decision was entirely down to them. Without the support of our staff we wouldn’t be able to turn these requests for support into reality”. -ENDS-