Zurich International employees help deliver 80,400 doses of Covid-19 vaccines through UNICEF

Zurich International’s employees here on the Island raised funds for ‘VaccinAid’, a campaign led by the UK Committee for UNICEF (UNICEF UK) and Crowdfunder raising money to help UNICEF deliver Covid-19 vaccines, tests and treatments to millions of vulnerable people around the world.

A range of events have been organised in recent weeks, including a Noble’s Park Parkrun ‘takeover’ which saw Zurich International employees act as marshals and timekeepers at the popular weekly 5k event. Donations were collected from generous Parkrunners, and a junior run was also organised by the Zurich International team. Other fundraising events included a car wash, bake sale, pledge/experience auction, plus online activities such as a buy and sell sale and bingo. 

Their efforts contributed to funds raised by Zurich International colleagues in the UK and Middle East which altogether were matched by the Z Zurich Foundation (the charitable foundation established by the Zurich Insurance Group) and resulted in enabling UNICEF to deliver 80,400 doses of Covid-19 vaccines. It’s all part of an ongoing global campaign which has already resulted in the Z Zurich Foun-dation supporting UNICEF to deliver more than 2.5 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines to frontline workers and the most vulnerable as of June 30th, 2021. The Z Zurich Foundation aims to help UNICEF to deliver 2 billion Covid-19 vaccine doses by end of 2021 for the COVAX Facility. The main message behind this global movement is ‘no one is safe until everyone is safe’.

Serena Wood, Isle of Man Community Champion for the Z Zurich Foundation, said: “All the funds we raised have been matched by the Z Zurich Foundation. While we’re all very proud of this incredible achievement the campaign does not end here. Across Zurich’s business units, and from Zurich em-ployees to distribution partners, customers and the general public, we’ve seen the start of a global movement to help end this global pandemic. No one is safe until everyone is safe, so we’re continuing to encourage donations which can be made by clicking here.”

UNICEF says the scale and speed of this Covid-19 vaccine delivery programme is the most ambitious humanitarian challenge of the last 75 years, and will be the largest, fastest immunisation effort in history.

A Noble’s Park Parkrun ‘takeover’ was one of the events that Zurich International employees organised to raise funds for UNICEF. Back row (left to right) are Paul Callow, Senior Busi-ness Analyst; Serena Wood, Isle of Man Community Champion for the Z Zurich Foundation; and Charlene Cooper, Client Services Department Team Manager. Kneeling at the front are (left) Jo Boorman, Application Developer and (right) Emily Moore, Risk Analyst.