Local fiduciary and fund services specialist, Abacus, have raised over £1,000 for a local charity, the Isle of Man Adoption Service (‘IOMAS’).
The company based in Douglas raised a sum of £1,593.12 through a variety of fundraising initiatives including a Cake Bake Sale and a Charity Breakfast.
Funds were also raised through the company’s Staff Charity Salary Deduction Scheme, in which staff can opt to contribute a said amount of their salary each month into a charity pot. Every quarter a charity is chosen to receive the funds of the pot, the total in which is matched by the company to double the amount for donation. IOMAS was chosen as the company’s latest quarter charity.
The donation has been allocated to support IOMAS’ ‘Play Therapy’ project. The project which was launched in November 2010, aims to support children who are unable to talk about their problems, by encouraging them to express themselves through play.
Jan Watson, Play Therapist for the project said: ‘Many children are unable to verbalise their feelings and therefore have difficulties trying to communicate them. The Play Therapy project uses non-directive play therapy in which an assortment of tools such as sand play, puppets, art materials and role play can be used by the children to help them express themselves and overcome past traumas. Play therapy also develops self esteem, creativity and problem solving skills often lacking in adopted children.’
Catriona Morris, Agency Manager at IOMAS said, ‘On behalf of IOMAS, I would like to thank the staff at Abacus for their generosity and for choosing IOMAS as their quarter charity. Though we are contracted by the Isle of Man Government to provide all adoption services on the Isle of Man, we are not part of the Social Services Division which means the need to raise money is imperative, in order for us to continue providing the services that we do. Abacus has raised a great amount of money for which we are hugely grateful.’
Tax Director, Andrew Cardwell said, ‘We are delighted to present this donation to such a worthwhile charity on the Island. The work undertaken by IOMAS is incredibly important and we hope our donation will assist them with their Play Therapy project which we know will go on to help many individuals.’’
