City investment managers celebrate 10 years of support for small African charity

The pioneering London-based systematic investment management firm, Aspect Capital, is this month marking 10 years of supporting primary education in Kenya with another donation to the school-development charity African Promise.

The company has been generously supporting African Promise since 2009 and has made annual donations over the past 10 years, which have helped the charity to upgrade and establish long-term programmes of support with seven partner primary schools in a rural corner of Kenya, benefiting more than 7,000 disadvantaged young children.

Aspect Capital is committed to playing an active part in the wider community and every year supports a wide range of local, national and international charities, as explained by Charity Committee member, Nicola Dale:

“The ability to ‘make a difference’ is of great importance to the entire company. We are all actively encouraged to participate in fundraising activities and to give our time to charitable causes, and each year, as a business, we allocate a certain amount of our annual pre-tax profits to a range of charitable contributions.”

“It has been an absolute pleasure to see African Promise flourish over the years. The tireless hard work and passion of Charles [African Promise’s founder and CEO] and the African Promise team to raise funds and distribute them as effectively as possible is hugely inspiring. We have loved being part of African Promise’s journey and hope to continue to support their work for many years to come”

In 2017 the charity was also voted by employees as the company’s annual Charity of the Year. This saw many of the firms’ 120 London-based staff participate in an indoor ultra-ironman style challenge which raised over £20,000, every penny of which was matched by the company.

Reflecting on the charity’s 10-year partnership with Aspect, which began with an out-of-the-blue invitation to present to the Charity Committee, Charles Coldman, founder and CEO of African Promise, says:

“The impact that Aspect’s support has had on our charity and our partner schools in Kenya over the last decade cannot be overstated. African Promise was barely a year old when we were first approached by the company and at a time when corporate partnerships can be extremely difficult to establish and maintain for small, low-profile charities like African Promise, Aspect’s long-term support and commitment to our efforts over the last 10 years is a testament to the values of the business and its employees. We owe a great deal of thanks to the company and its Board but, in particular, to the individual Charity Committee members who have so passionately and tirelessly championed our cause to their colleagues since 2009.”

To find out how your company could partner with African Promise and benefit the everyday lives and futures of thousands of disadvantaged primary school children in Kenya please contact the charity at hello@africanpromise.org.uk or visit the charity's website.