(MENAFN- WPR) The Sparkle Foundation (Sparkle) – the charity set up in the UK, Malawi and now the UAE – has launched tailored programmes in the UAE to help organisations meet their CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) objectives and create volunteering opportunities for individuals to make a difference. The Sparkle Foundation has just recently registered in the UAE as a partner to Dubai International Humanitarian City and is creating bespoke CSR packages for companies, providing fundraising, volunteering and pro-bono opportunities. Sparkle introduced its new CSR programmes at a launch event (1st March 2022) hosted at the Dubai Cares Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai.
Founded in 2015 by British Expat, Sarah Brook, following a personal life-changing experience in Malawi, the charity is now planning to replicate its model across Africa and is giving UAE companies the opportunity to join them. Covering nine of the United Nation Sustainable Development Goals, The Sparkle Foundation has created a blueprint grassroots charity model which has impacted over 14,000 people in Malawi with education, medical care, nutrition and community programmes.
Sparkle is already working with a number of companies across the GCC providing volunteer programmes for employees, team CSR days, ESG reporting, along with permitted fundraising opportunities. The charity is now focusing on bridging the gap between the public and private sectors and helping establish the UAE as a global leader in CSR, as the country prepares to introduce new CSR requirements for companies.
Founder and CEO of The Sparkle Foundation, Sarah Brook, was Awarded Middle East Humanitarian of the Year 2017 by His Excellency Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak al Nahyan, UAE Minister of Tolerance and Coexistence. She said: “There are so many generous and caring people in Dubai who want to make a difference but just don’t know how. Our aim is to provide a recognised and approved platform for the whole community - individuals and organisations - to engage and change people’s lives through a range of different opportunities, which are mutually beneficial. Our youngest UAE volunteer is four who climbs mountains for girls’ education and our eldest is 83 who knits hats in his wheelchair for our children in the winter. Everyone can do something, and at Sparkle we can match you with that purpose you have been looking for. It’s a new model of community engagement, which we have already been successful with in Europe and the UK, and we now want to roll it out in the UAE and give people the same opportunity.”
The Sparkle Foundation is now actively working with the community to raise awareness of its mission and to raise funds and engage people and organisations in the UAE, to support the charity’s mission. With plans to host its first annual gala dinner in Dubai on 1st October 2022, Sparkle has already built an extensive network of partners including local organisations - international law firm Clifford Chance (UK and UAE), Dubai-based Emerging Markets Intelligence and Research (EMIR), and The University of Manchester Middle East Centre in Dubai.
“The pandemic has been a uniquely challenging time for charities with many being forced to close but Sparkle has actually grown during this period, along with the renewed sense of community and as people increasingly look for opportunities to help others and make a real difference, including expatriates living far from their home countries. The UAE is already a shining example of community and generosity and we aim to create more opportunities for people to help people and to ‘Sparkle’,” Sarah added.
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