Member Article

Groundbreaking charity model 10x10 arrives in UK

A group of 10 socially conscious young people are hoping to raise much needed money for UK grassroots charities via an innovative philanthropic model called 10x10. The initiative, which started in Australia, aims to engender a culture of giving in a generation often criticised for being ‘me-centric’, through a series of fundraising events organised by an independent committee of 10 people each time. The first 10x10 UK event takes place in London on the 18th May.

The new fundraising format, which has so far raised in excess of £550,000 for grassroots charities, takes its inspiration from the popular TV show Dragons’ Den, providing a platform for three pre-selected charities to pitch their cause to an audience of young professionals. The charities are then grilled by three guest ‘Dragons for Good’ in pursuit of their share of the prize money.

The brainchild of Nina Skrzynski, Jenny Newmarch and Laurence Marshbaum, the 10x10 initiative was formed in Australia in 2013 to raise funds for emerging charities in Australia that identify innovative solutions for social issues in local communities. Since then, the events have expanded across other major cities, including Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Vancouver, Hong Kong and now, London, engaging a total of 3,500 young professionals and supporting 78 grassroots charities.

The three selected charities for the London event are:

• STRIDE Foundation - helping people walk away from addiction, founded by British model Paul Sculfor
• Spark Inside – the use of professional coaching in prisons to equip people with the tools and motivation they need to transform their lives
• James Wentworth-Stanley Memorial Fund – mental health and suicide awareness and prevention in young people

The three confirmed Dragons for the evening are:

• Nick Jenkins, founder of Moonpig (and real life Dragon from the Den)
• Daniel Murray, hotshot young entrepreneur, founder of successful app Grabble (Tinder for fashion), amongst other ventures
• Vanessa Brady OBE, interior designer and successful businesswoman spanning property, construction, furniture, publishing and academia

Nick Jenkins says: “It’s always exciting to share a strong passion for philanthropy and so I’m delighted to have been asked to join the judging panel for the first ever 10x10 London event. This type of fundraising model for young professionals is exactly what’s needed in the charity sector at the moment. I’m sure my experiences from inside the real Dragons’ Den will help me on the night as we come together to support three fantastic causes.“

Each guest pays £80 to attend which is in turn converted into 10x10 ’Charity Pounds, handed to them on the night. Once the charities have pitched, each attendee decides how they want to allocate their Charity Pounds. All costs are covered by sponsors, so 100% of the donations go directly to the charities.

Laurence Marshbaum, Founder of 10x10, says: “The idea for 10x10 was born when I was living and working in London and was looking for a way that the little money I had to give could make a meaningful impact to people in need. So it’s incredibly meaningful to be back here launching our first event in the UK.

“In a crowded market where so many not-for-profits are competing for our money, people want more transparency in knowing where their money is going and what direct influence it will have. We’ve witnessed first-hand that the 10x10 model really works in inspiring and empowering young professionals to support their local communities, and what better city than London for the next step in this global initiative.“

For more information on 10x10, or to submit your charity for consideration for the next event, visit: http://10x10philanthropy.com/

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For further information, or interviews with charity spokespeople, the Dragons or 10x10 founders, please contact Alice Carr on 07974 632008 or acarr2301@gmail.com

Event updates and information on the 10x10 London event can be found here: https://www.facebook.com/events/882021615234328/?active_tab=about

Notes to editors

About the charities

STRIDE Foundation

Helping people walk away from addiction.

Founded by British model Paul Sculfor and his wife Federica Amati, STRIDE aims to provide high impact support for individuals who are affected by addiction, as well as reduce the stigma and misunderstanding surrounding addiction and recovery through education and outreach.

Following his own battle with addiction and experience with recovery, Paul understands the difficulties in integrating and continuing to function within society during recovery and is passionate about helping others in a similar situation.

The money from this initiative will go directly to funding treatment for people who are suffering from addiction. Additional activities would also include arranging lectures and talks to raise awareness about the truth of addiction, setting up social projects where people are encouraged to interact honestly in a safe environment and ultimately, to set up a permanent centre to help recovering addicts learn skills to reintegrate themselves back into society.

http://www.stridefoundation.com/

Spark Inside

Coaching interventions that unlock human potential.

At a time when our prisons are in crisis, the charity Spark Inside is pioneering the use of professional coaching in the prison system to tackle record levels of violence, create a more rehabilitative culture and ultimately reduce rates of reoffending. Through its pioneering coaching programmes, Spark Inside equips people with the tools and motivation they need to transform their lives through developing an invaluable set of skills, including self-awareness, emotional intelligence, personal responsibility, empathy and communication.

The money raised from the 10x10 London event will go towards providing continuous coaching support to young people aged 15 to 25 in prison, including one-to-one sessions and coaching workshops in prison, plus follow up ‘through-the-gates’ coaching to support a successful transition back to the community post-release.

http://www.sparkinside.org/

The James Wentworth-Stanley Memorial Fund

Mental health and suicide awareness and prevention in young people.

Following the tragic suicide of James Wentworth-Stanley at the age of 21, the James Wentworth-Stanley Memorial Fund was set up by James’ family to help raise awareness of anxiety, depression and suicide amongst young people, and to tackle the shocking statistic that suicide is the leading cause of death amongst young men in the UK.

Until now, they have acted as a distributor of funds to different mental health charities. Now they are working towards funding a new initiative called James’ Place – a series of non-clinical centres for men experiencing suicidal crisis – a service that does not currently exist in the UK.

The money raised through the 10x10 London initiative will go towards developing the first James’ Place which is due to open in September 2017 in Liverpool.

http://jwsmf.org/

About 10x10

THIS IS THE PROBLEM…. There are thousands of charities – how do you know where to start? How do you know where your money’s going? People tend not to have enough time to find out what’s out there, let alone whether they’re legit. They’re not all millionaires so how can they make a difference?

THIS IS THE 10 X 10 SOLUTION…. 10 x 10 picks out three charities, which it thinks are changing things up in how they’re working on complicated social issues in our communities. It does the due diligence on them so it knows they are of a scale where the collective contribution will make an impact – and that the funds will be fully leveraged to bring about social change.

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT…. Once three charities have been selected, the 10x10 committee of 10 people then brings a minimum of 100 people together for an evening event, each guest contributing £80 in advance - so that collectively the £80 is going to turn into £8000 (at least!). At the event, guests are then given their £80 back in the form of tokens to allocate to any of the three charities over the course of the evening.

Each of the three charities has five minutes to deliver their pitch in the style of the popular UK TV show, Dragons’ Den. They’ll be pitching to the audience and to the resident Dragons for the evening. The Dragons will question each charity about their pitch and business model. When all the pitches are done, the audience decide who and how much to donate their tokens based on whose pitches or cause inspired them the most. The pooled funds will then be distributed to the charities based on the tallied up contributions.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Alice Carr .