Google invited Liverpool’s Be One Percent to their worldwide headquarters in June to participate in Google Serve Month: an initiative where Google employees step away from their desks and spend some time working with charities.
Who are Be One Percent
Be One Percent was set up by friends Steve Pilgrim (musician and drummer for Paul Weller) and Matt Johnson (MD of Liverpool-based business FORM) in 2011. Our mission is to help end extreme poverty through one simple idea: people give 1% of their income to help the world’s poorest communities. Monthly emails show exactly how much was raised and where it will be spent. Business sponsors (including many Liverpool businesses) cover our running costs so 100% of individual’s donations can go to projects on the ground.
What have they done
In seven years our small charity has had a life-changing effect in some of the world’s poorest communities: supplying 2 million school meals, 1,193 microloans, 77,000 health treatments, malaria nets to protect 37,000 people and clean water for 13,650. This impressive impact earned us an invite from Google.
Collaborating With Google
We used the opportunity to pick the brains of Google’s employees and engage them in helping us promote our work. In five days working across Googleplex, San Francisco and Mountain View campuses we spoke with hundreds of Googlers and benefitted from their time, ideas and skills. We also set up a mindful craftivism activity to give them a moment to relax while learning about what we do.
Google will donate £7.50 for every hour an employee spent with us meaning we can reach even more people on our mission to help end global poverty.
“We are honoured that Google have recognised our small charity. We currently have 230 people (many in Liverpool) giving 1% of their income each month and with this we’ve helped 100,000’s people. Google see the life-changing potential of the work we do and we look forward to continuing this relationship way into the future.”
Matt Johnson, Be One Percent co-founder
For further information or imagery please contact:
members@beonepercent.org
See every one of our life-changing projects at www.beonepercent.org
