Every year employees of the global home-swapping platform Love Home Swap choose a charity partner to financially support. Throughout the rest of 2020 and 2021 the business will be raising funds for the Albert Kennedy Trust (akt). Set up in 1989, akt is a voluntary organisation based in England that supports those aged 16-25 of the LGBTQ+ community who are experiencing homelessness or other housing challenges. The charity helps young people find safe homes and can support with things like employment, education and training in an environment that celebrates LGBTQ+ identities.
Over the next year the employees of Love Home Swap aim to fundraise through activities such as bake sales, pub quizzes, auctions and sweepstakes and individual fitness challenges. Product Manager at Love Home Swap, Ben O’Donnell and Digital Marketing Executive Ellena Morgan have both committed to running 150km and 100km respectively in December to raise money for the charity. Their original goal was to raise £1,150 between them but together they have already exceeded this figure and raised over £1,600 in just 1 month.
Célia Pronto, Managing Director of Love Home Swap comments: “It’s really important for us all as a team at Love Home Swap to support a charity that we feel connected to, and I am incredibly proud the team have chosen the Albert Kennedy Trust. The charity does such important work and was selected because of their commitment to supporting young people from the LGBTQ+ community who are facing homelessness or other housing challenges in the hope we can support their incredible work with the funds we raise.
This year has demonstrated just how essential safe and secure housing is for all of us and it’s also been a year where we’ve realised how important it is for people to come together to help those in need. I’m so proud of how much has already been raised and can’t wait to see what we achieve in 2021.”
Bex Shorunke, Senior Media Officer from the Albert Kennedy Trust says: “We really appreciate Love Home Swap for selecting akt as their Charity of the Year. We have seen a massive spike in referrals to our services, with a 118% increase in new referrals between April to August this year compared with the same period in 2019. Fundraising plays a crucial role in enabling us to continue delivering much needed support to LGBTQ+ young people during this challenging time. We thank Love Home Swap for raising awareness around the work we do and look forward to seeing the fruits of their labour!”
Love Home Swap has worked with a number of charities in the past, all of which have a links to homelessness and travel including: The Outside Project, Let Them Help Themselves and The Travel Foundation.
