The Royal Mail Group has raised more than £2m for Prostate Cancer UK since launching a charity partnership in September 2012.
Royal Mail and Parcelforce Worldwide’s 150,000 employees raised £1m that was then matched by the company.
Their fundraising efforts included raising a total of more than £925,000 through the moustache-growing challenge Movember in 2012 and 2013. This total includes match-funding from the company.
Employees also took part in marathons, bikes rides and hikes in aid of the charity.
Money raised from the partnership will fund 34 specialist prostate cancer nurses to support men with the disease and their families across the UK.
Royal Mail has issued a special postmark to celebrate achieving the £2m milestone that will be printed on mail delivered to addresses across the UK for the next two weeks.
Prostate Cancer UK was chosen as Royal Mail’s charity partner by a staff vote in September 2012. The partnership will run until the end of the summer, the company said.
The two runners up in the staff vote, Alzheimer’s Society and Whizz-Kidz, received £50,000 in funding each for being shortlisted.
Now that the partnership with Prostate Cancer UK has reached its target of £2m, Royal Mail will provide up to £1m further match-funding to be shared between all three charities.
Owen Sharp, chief executive at Prostate Cancer UK, said: “We are thrilled to reach this milestone in our partnership with Royal Mail, with a phenomenal £2million raised. This is testament to the dedication of Royal Mail and its employees who have embraced this partnership, and gone above and beyond to exceed its target.”
Moya Greene, chief executive of the company, said: “Our people have taken the charity to their heart and dedicated themselves to fundraising activities. Thanks to their efforts we’ve been able to make a real difference to the charity’s work and funded nurses who are helping men and their families affected by the disease.”
The company has also raised awareness of the disease among its employees through a series of health road shows, information sessions, literature and special videos.