Virgin Unite | News Feeds

Give a Drop pendant

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 10:38:12 GMT

Please read the note below from Jewel announcing the launch of a pendant designed by Pennyroyal Silver to benefit her charity, Project Clean Water. -- Hi, I wanted to share my excitement about partnering with Pennyroyal Silver to design a special Give a Drop pendant to benefit my charity, Project Clean Water....

How banks can help the world’s poor

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 15:16:37 GMT
Richard recently hosted ‘Partnerships in Philanthropy’, a gathering on Necker Island convened by Virgin Unite and Foundation Source (an independent firm serving family foundations). The event brought together global experts and family foundations from the US, UK, Canada and Australia to examine global trends in philanthropy and identify new ways...

The Elders featured in Huffington Post

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 11:42:02 GMT
Archbishop Tutu, President Carter and Mary Robinson have been interviewed by the online newspaper, The Huffington Post. Log on to read this lively exchange and learn how The Elders see critical world issues interconnecting; what unique wisdom they feel they have to offer; what commonalities they see between people of...

On Track programme launches

Mon, 01 Mar 2010 13:51:37 GMT
Virgin Mobile and V Festival have teamed up with the City of Sydney and the Redfern Community Centre to launch On Track, a 20 week programme to help young people in Sydney find pathways into careers in music. On Track's weekly sessions introduce young people to artists, promoters, record...

Inside the Carbon War Room

Mon, 01 Mar 2010 10:07:09 GMT
The first Carbon War Room summit unveils a battle plan for tackling the mounting climate problem head on. Phase 1: remove 5 billion tons of CO2 per year by 2020 by making buildings efficient....

Entrepreneur of the quarter: Joe Polish

Mon, 01 Mar 2010 09:04:24 GMT
Joe Polish, founder of Piranha Marketing, is a marketing and business building consultant who has been a strong supporter of Virgin Unite for the past several years. Last autumn, he was recognised by Sir Richard Branson with the first ever ‘One in a Million’ award for his tremendous contribution. In...

Virgin Unite Staff Connection Trip 2010 Winners Announced

Wed, 24 Feb 2010 18:30:08 GMT
Each year, Virgin Unite brings together 10 Virgin staff from across the Virgin Group for a week of hands-on volunteering with Pride ‘n Purpose in Ulusaba, South Africa. Pride ‘n Purpose is the charitable arm of Richard’s private game reserve, Ulusaba. The organisation works on a non-profit basis and is committed...

Meet runner Paula Lipscombe

Mon, 22 Feb 2010 11:05:00 GMT
Well, 64 days and counting until I undertake probably 1 of the most physically and mentally demanding challenges of my life! Still I’m not one to shy away from a challenge, so bring it on! Those of you that know me, will know that I’ve never really been a runner,...

Meet runner Gary MacAlister

Thu, 18 Feb 2010 17:43:06 GMT
Runner Gary MacAlister, a facilities coordinator at Virgin Media in Trowbridge, has raised an impressive £6,000 for Virgin Unite and the Royal United Hospital’s charity, the Forever Friends Appeal. Well done, Gary! Gary reports: 'I’ve raised the main bulk of funds by selling shirt sponsorship to Nokia, JCW, Promise Promo,...

Virgin Limobike Competition Winner

Tue, 16 Feb 2010 18:36:01 GMT
Virgin Unite had the pleasure of attending the London Business School career fair at the end of January. All those who signed up to virginunite.com on the night were entered into a draw for the chance to win an exciting Virgin Limobike ride in central London, courtesy of Virgin Limobikes. Well...

South African staff volunteer as speakers at the Branson School

Mon, 15 Feb 2010 15:20:22 GMT
A number of staff from around the Virgin businesses in South Africa have recently volunteered their time as guest speakers at the Branson School of Entrepreneurship, sharing their skills and knowledge with aspiring entrepreneurs. The Branson School of Entrepreneurship was established by Virgin Unite in Johannesburg to support budding entrepreneurs and...

Virgin Unite readers respond

Mon, 15 Feb 2010 10:12:39 GMT
Each month, we invite members of the Virgin Unite community to tell us how they or their businesses are making the world a better place. Here are some of the interesting reports we've recently received from you. Well done and keep up the great work! Please keep...

Virgin Money revamps environmental web site

Mon, 15 Feb 2010 10:03:11 GMT
Virgin Unite partner Green Light Trust (GLT), a Suffolk-based environmental conservation charity, has unveiled a new web site after a complete revamping by Virgin Money volunteers. Staff spanning the web, design, marketing and copywriting departments offered their skills and time to transform the website with a new brand identity and...

Virgin Atlantic Veggie Garden Harvest

Thu, 11 Feb 2010 10:37:33 GMT
The Virgin Atlantic Staff, Virgin Unite team and Life College students planted a vegetable garden at the Kelokitso Life College in Meadowlands Soweto on the 13th of October 2009. The hard exercise in the scorching sun was worth it as it changed a barren area into beautifully laid out garden! On...

Join Richard to help vulnerable young people

Wed, 10 Feb 2010 15:48:23 GMT
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Business Stripped Bare competition winner

Thu, 04 Feb 2010 10:29:00 GMT
As our winner Karen will receive a copy of the inspirational and dynamic Business Stripped Bare book, signed by Sir Richard Branson. A big thanks to everyone that entered. ...

Virgin Holidays Bags for Life

Wed, 27 Jan 2010 18:18:54 GMT
The team at Virgin Holidays have raised £250 for Mission:Possible and saved a load of rubbish from hitting the local landfill in the process. Using a heap of old marketing campaign banners that weren't recyclable, and with the help of www.bannerbags.co.uk, the marketing department produced a line of funky...

Christmas collection!

Tue, 26 Jan 2010 15:37:42 GMT
A big thank you for everyone who rather than send Christmas cards made donations to our Indian Village appeal and the departments who held raffles before Christmas to also raise funds. It's always amazing how generous Virgin staff are and once again you have exceeded expectations, especially when we...

Caroline's story

Tue, 26 Jan 2010 13:52:54 GMT
When I found out last summer that I had been lucky enough to be given one of the 20 places for the Virgin 2010 London Marathon team I was both excited and terrified. I didn't consider myself to be a runner but had enjoyed taking part in the Flora Women's...

Max’s story

Tue, 26 Jan 2010 13:48:05 GMT
Max’s story - IT Service Manager Not long to go now and this is becoming very real! Historically running has been something I have had a go at to keep fit(ish). I have played a lot of football over the years but in recent times I have been playing...

Meet runner Simon McKinna

Mon, 25 Jan 2010 19:52:28 GMT
Virgin Media runner Simon McKinna has been buzzing along with his training and fundraising as the date of the Virgin London Marathon nears. We thought we'd share a few of his creative fundraising ideas--so far Simon has raised more than £4K of his £5K target in support of the...

Astronomical fundraising from Virgin Galactic

Mon, 25 Jan 2010 18:46:34 GMT
Runner Mario Ferreira has produced this fun video to raise funds for Virgin Unite as part of his marathon fundraising. Mario is a Virgin Galactic astronaut based in Portugal who has raised more than £15K to date. Congratulations to Mario for his out-of-this-world fundraising! ...

Virgin Management 'tache-a-thon'

Mon, 25 Jan 2010 18:06:18 GMT
Runner Kevin Phippard at Virgin Management has organised a successful 'tache-a-thon', challenging himself and four co-workers to grow outlandish facial hair to raise funds to meet his marathon target in support of Virgin Unite. The month-long competition has raised more than £450 thanks to the generous sponsorship of their...

Meet runner Max Hamilton

Mon, 25 Jan 2010 17:27:42 GMT
Not long to go now and this is becoming very real! Historically running has been something I have had a go at to keep fit(ish). I have played a lot of football over the years but in recent times I have been playing less frequently and my body...

Delivering aid to Haiti

Thu, 21 Jan 2010 18:19:59 GMT
Everyone who has read about the sheer destruction in Haiti last week will have been moved to help in any way possible. Since the disaster struck, businesses around the Virgin Group have come together to do as much as they can to help deliver much-needed aid to the region,...

Refer a friend for the chance to win a title from Virgin Books

Thu, 14 Jan 2010 15:34:15 GMT
As the snow comes down and winter gains traction, we're all looking to curl up with a good book. How about settling in with one of these fascinating titles from Virgin Books? From now until the 28th of February, we're giving away eight fabulous titles to the Virgin Unite...

Richard to appear on CNN International’s ‘Connect The World’ programme

Wed, 13 Jan 2010 12:49:08 GMT
Sir Richard Branson will be appearing on CNN International’s ‘Connect The World’ programme tonight (Wednesday the 13th January 2010) at 9pm GMT, as their ‘Connector of the Day’....

Haiti earthquake appeal

Wed, 13 Jan 2010 12:10:13 GMT
Aid agencies around the world have launched emergency appeals for Haiti after a major earthquake struck the country. Officials fear up to 200,000 people may be dead and three million affected by the disaster. The quake, measuring 7.0 on the Richter Scale, struck 15km southwest of the capital just before 5pm...

NYT OpEd: Religion and Women

Wed, 13 Jan 2010 11:28:10 GMT
Religion and Women, a column published on the 9th of January by New York Times Op-Ed Columnist Nicholas D. Kristof, discusses the intersection of religion and women's oppression, with mention of The Elders work in this area. To read the article, click here. ...

Entrepreneur Perry Wilson visits BSOE

Tue, 12 Jan 2010 14:46:25 GMT
On 13th January Perry Wilson, British entrepreneur and co founder of InsureandGo, visited The Branson School of Entrepreneurship in Johannesburg. Perry, who is a long time donor and supporter of Virgin Unite, first became engaged with the School through his engagement with The Fast Track 100 where he...

Big Stars, Big Giving

Tue, 05 Jan 2010 11:25:10 GMT
In part five of CNN's American Morning original series, "Big Stars, Big Giving", Richard Branson is interviewed about his nonprofit foundation Virgin Unite. ...

Richard attends UN Conference on Climate Change in Copenhagen

Tue, 05 Jan 2010 09:19:11 GMT
Richard recently attended the UN Conference on Climate Change in Copenhagen. He opened the day by addressing the Climate Summit for Mayors, offering his unique perspective on public/private partnerships to advance sustainability in cities. Richard also spent time learning about the specific challenges mayors of cities face, including a meeting with...

Thousands of Homeless Youth To Receive New Clothes For The Holidays

Mon, 21 Dec 2009 18:36:21 GMT
Dean Graziosi, author, entrepreneur and long time supporter of Virgin Unite has raised $30K to date, by donating $0.25 from sales of his latest book Profit from Real Estate Now. This contribution will allow new clothing donated by American Eagle to be delivered to around 450 organisations across the US...

Quids in at the Quiz Night

Mon, 21 Dec 2009 11:34:18 GMT
Our suppliers support Procurements inaugural quiz night and help us raise over 25k for our 2009 India Village Appeal. The red carpet was rolled out the other week as the Procurement team hosted their first ever suppliers quiz night at the Crown Plaza Hotel in Crawley. Hosted by our very...

Our India Village appeal has hit £100,000!!

Mon, 21 Dec 2009 10:43:50 GMT
Well what can we say despite the tough time this year our Virgin Atlantic staff have been absolutely amazing and really pulling out all the stops when it comes to ‘fun’raising! Our supplier quiz night was a huge success and much fun was had by all thanks to the hard work...