Global challenges

Ecuador Challenge

In 2009, 120 Bupa volunteers from over ten countries travelled to Ecuador to transform the foundations of a derelict building into a health and community centre for a small community in Miraflores. The project lasted three months in total, with ten volunteers flying out each week to work at the site.

The campaign had the following objectives:

To support the health and leadership strategy by creating a health related challenge for Bupa employees
To highlight the importance of Bupa's value to 'care' and give something back to the communities in which we operate
To increase employee morale, recruitment, retention and create a challenge for Bupa staff to feel proud of
To develop a sustainable relationship with a charity in a country in which Bupa operates and raise the business profile
To achieve commercial leverage for the business
To develop the skill set of our staff

Bupa worked with the Martha Estrella Foundation, a not-for-profit organisation operating in poor and vulnerable communities in Ecuador to improve social living and conditions.

Miraflores is a small agricultural community, where the families live on just on just £2.50 a day in severe poverty. The community had no healthcare facilities with a doctor visiting once every two months and only one school with two volunteer teachers which was located far away in the next town.

The project aimed to provide the people of Miraflores a health and wellbeing community complex to unify the community, provide medical assistance and health education.

The completed centre comprised:

a doctor's room including new equipment and a visiting doctor twice a week
fully equipped dental surgery
childcare facilities and nursery
IT facilities
volunteer bedrooms
kitchen, dining room and community meeting room
office space and bathrooms
roof terrace and renovated outdoor areas
the rebuilding and renovation of the school including a computer centre with IT health education programme, dining room, and four classrooms

The 120 Bupa volunteers raised over £120,000 for the people of Miraflores through fundraising efforts, involving their colleagues. Bupa is using this money to fund sustainable projects within the community for the next three years.

To date, projects funded by Bupa include:

medical check ups for all adults and children
a medical filing system
transport for the local doctor to visit the centre
dental check ups for adults and children
sexual education workshops for teenagers
childcare lessons for young mothers
food to provide three meals a day for the children and elderly people in the community
funding for a centre administrator to manage the projects on the ground

The project was a resounding success, completing the build on time and within budget, leaving an amazing legacy for the people of Miraflores.

Thailand Challenge

In 2007, Bupa celebrated its 60th anniversary by organising an international charity initiative the 'Thailand Challenge'. The project centred around Sarnelli House Orphanage in Thailand, which cares for children living with HIV/AIDS or orphaned by the disease.

The challenge was organised directly by Bupa's Corporate Responsibility team, who worked in partnership with the Pattaya Orphanage Trust. Following ten months of planning and employee fundraising, six groups of ten Bupa volunteers worked on a series of projects at Sarnelli House over a six-week period.

The campaign had four key objectives, all aligned with Bupa's vision of 'taking care of the lives in our hands' and its corporate values: accountable, caring, respectful, ethical, enabling and dedicated.

To raise awareness among employees and key stakeholders of the growing problem of HIV/AIDS in Thailand
To raise the profile of our business within Thailand and the UK
To improve the lives of the 126 children living at Sarnelli House
To organise a challenge for Bupa staff to be 'proud' of, whilst representing all of Bupa's UK and international business, helping to 'feel part' of Bupa

Each of the 60 volunteers were to raise £1,000 to fund the challenge, which was then matched by Community Connections, resulting in a sum of £120,000. Volunteer places were split across the Bupa group worldwide according to country staff ratios.

An online blog with video diary functionality allowed for the volunteers to share fundraising ideas and successes and followed their Thailand experience.

The orphanage now has four newly re-decorated houses, a landscaped garden, new furniture throughout, four new sports courts and playgrounds, a new kitchen, 20 new bathrooms, hot water, and protected rice fields to allow for rice growing.