How would you like to use your business skills for something amazing?
To really show off your entrepreneurial talents while helping others?
Save the Children has launched an amazing initiative encouraging young people to use their talents to make a real difference.
Called Business Heroes, it is literally looking for that: young people who can use their skills to raise money for the victims of Haiti’s earthquake.
And as one of Save the Children’s largest corporate supporters worldwide, Reckitt Benckiser is furthering its commitment to help the charity by supporting this fabulous opportunity.

What’s it all about?
The initiative is designed to raise funds for Haiti after the initial media interest has dwindled.
You will pitch your entrepreneurial skills against others from across the country to see who can raise the most money.
And the business idea that raises the most money will bag an internship at Save the Children for summer 2010.
There is also a prize for the most innovative overall fundraising idea.
But not only that, you will have the chance to gain skills and experience to build your CV and ensure you stand out from the crowd at job interview.
The competition is open to anyone and you can enter as a team or as an individual.
But you are encouraged to think big and your project should be planned and have a budget attached.
Your funds can be raised by selling a product or a service.
And to qualify, a business plan must be submitted, funds must be received by April 10th and a one-page description of your initiative must also be produced.

Where to start?
If you need a little inspiration the Business Heroes site has an idea’s area to get you started.
Problems are opportunities so think of a problem people have – laptop surgery? Fixing push bikes? – and find ways you can solve those problems.
Do you have a skill to sell? Can you organise a charity auction? Can you organise an event?

If you are looking for ways to ensure you stand out from the crowd when it comes to searching for a job, this is an ideal opportunity.
Your ideas and achievements will be visible to companies across the UK who are searching for great talent.
And you could have the unique opportunity to work with an experienced mentor to develop your plan if your business plan is chosen.
So if you have a groundbreaking idea that can mobilise people and resources and affect change, why don’t you sign up?
If you’re looking for inspiration or more details, visit the Business Heroes website. You will also find them on Facebook and on Twitter.
This really is an amazing opportunity to boost your career prospects – and tangibly help Haitian children affected by the earthquake.

I would also like to highlight the quick response of RB in collecting funds for Haití. Several countries across the business started to fund raise money immediately after the disaster.
In Spain, for example, we gave the employees the chance to make direct donations from payroll and we raised more than 8.000€.

You can see the work of Save the children in Haití in the following video:

NOTE: If you are looking for seedfunding for your business idea (to get it off the ground) you will need to have your business idea submitted by Wednesday, February 10th at 11.59pm.

Hi everyone!

On Saturday we celebrated a fundraising event for Save the Children in RB Spain’s Logistics Centre (near Barcelona) and I just wanted to take the opportunity, as I’m blogging here, to thank everyone who helped to make it possible.
The effort of all RB volunteers was extraordinary (the event was set up in only one week as we decided to do a last minute action for 2009 and the 12th of December was the only date available).
Everyone worked really hard doing different tasks. I started coordinating all volunteers and I ended up recounting the products people were taking as a hand was needed there.

We finally raised more than €10,000 for Save the Children, which is fantastic!

The event was based on a RB Spain donation of products; the employees and their relatives, friends, etc. took these products and made cash donations for them.

Here are some pictures of it. I am on the top centre picture (I’m the first one on the left). Can you see how corporative volunteers were dressed? Pink & grey of course

Reckitt Benckiser’s partnership with Save the Children started in 2006 and since then a lot of RB countries, like Spain, have started to do fundraising actions to contribute to the global programs.

This year for example, RB launched the “Do something Big” program globally and, as you might have seen in posts on this blog, several countries are contributing to it (ie. Do something big challenge in Germany).

At RB Spain we are glad to announce that with the funds we raised on Saturday we’ve overachieved our local target for Do Something Big that will go over €50.000 this year!

Friends of mine who work in careers ranging from medicine to charity have asked how I feel ethically about working in such a large corporate organisation with a mission to make profit.
I say that I’m extremely proud because Reckitt Benckiser is unlike any other I know.
I don’t blame them for being curious about the corporate sector and its corporate responsibility practices, as you often hear bad press about large scale organisations’ social responsibility when it goes wrong.
But at Reckitt Benckiser, social responsibility is at the forefront our daily practices.
Our CEO, Bart Becht, actually visited the branch I work at to personally present Carbon 20, a new global initiative to reduce the carbon footprint of all our products.
For him to do this himself signals just how much RB will focus on the environment going forward.
It’s motivating because I can – and have to – participate in this in my day job.
Strepsils is the fastest growing global brand we have, so it’s critical we get on board. For example we have changed all our plastic external packaging to a more sustainable version as well as vetting all our suppliers to ensure they also comply by strict social responsibility guidelines.
In our office we even have 3 compartment bins, each of which we use to separate out paper, plastic and general waste. It’s made so easy for us to make a personal difference.
RB has been hosting an ongoing conversation about corporate social responsibility on LinkedIn and the Reckitt Benckiser Facebook page.

However, our social responsibility doesn’t just focus on the environment but also on charity.
Save The Children is our official charity and not only are there many opportunities to participate in fundraising initiatives but anyone in the business can suggest an activity where they fundraise and RB will match it!
A group of 61 employees have just returned from an amazing fundraising trek in the Himalayas for Save the Children in which they were also given the opportunity to help out at local schools projects.
Reckitt Benckiser is unlike any other large scale corporation I know in this respect and I’m extremely proud to be part of it.