Shire in the community
Earth Day
Last year we took part in Earth Day for the first time. Although it originated in the US—and led directly to the creation of the US Environmental Protection Agency—Earth Day is now a worldwide event involving 17,000 organizations in 174 countries. In 2008 over a billion people took part in conservation projects, and events to raise awareness of the environment and climate change.
Shire’s Earth Day is always one of the highlights of the SAVE program, which we talk about in more detail on page 18. In 2008 the day involved employees from across the world, from Boston to Dublin, and Madrid to Mexico. There were all sorts of different activities at each office, but there was a strong emphasis on encouraging people to do their bit to tackle climate change, with plenty of practical tips about ways to make a difference, however small. The day ended with the planting of trees at our Basingstoke, Philadelphia and Massachusetts offices.
Project Playground
This is a new project for Shire in which we’re working with Ty Pennington, the host of the Extreme Makeover: Home Editions TV show on ABC in the US. We’ve worked with Ty a number of times before—he has ADHD and has been committed to raising awareness of the effect the condition can have on both children and adults.
This particular project centers on an elementary school in Harlem, New York. There are 600 children at the school, but they had nowhere to play. We worked with Ty to design and build a stunning new playground, including a running track, a jungle gym, a baseball area, and a basketball court. In fact both the design and build were directly influenced by the students themselves—we ran one day at the school to canvas their ideas, and another where the children and people from the local neighbourhood helped us put the finishing touches on what is now an amazing new facility for the whole community.
As Ty says, “So many of my childhood memories are about having fun with friends on the playground at recess and after school, and playing sports, too. I know that kids, especially those who have ADHD, need to stay active, and Project Playground will leave these students with an awesome place where they can use their energy and channel their abilities in school and after school.”
Action on Addiction
In 2008 Shire donated £15,000 to the M-PACT program being run by the charity Action on Addiction. The name stands for ‘Moving Parents and Children Together’, and it aims to bring together families who’ve been affected by substance abuse, so they can help and support one another. They meet with skilled facilitators once a week over a period of two months, and work together to find ways to reduce the impact of addiction on their own families. M-PACT is a pilot project at the moment, but the aim is to roll it out to parents and children across the UK. Shire’s support will help Action on Addiction to evaluate the program and train more professionals to deliver the program in their own areas. With over 1.5 million children in the UK struggling to deal with substance abuse at home, this is an immensely valuable initiative, which could potentially make a real difference.
On the road with LIALDA
Ulcerative colitis (UC) is not a very well known disease, and only those who suffer from it know how debilitating it can be to run your life around the need to go to the toilet. There are over 700,000 people in the US who suffer from this illness, but only 250,000 are taking advantage of drugs like LIALDA, which could make all the difference to their symptoms.
During 2008 we set up ‘On the road again’, an interactive program to educate people about UC, and what people can do to help themselves. Physicians were contacted in advance, so that they could encourage their patients to attend, and the first sessions were run in community centers in Miami, Houston, Atlanta, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Minneapolis. We’ve never run anything quite like this before, but every
single person who attended said that they had gained something positive from the experience. We’re very proud of that.
Kids at work
‘Take your Child to Work Day’ is another annual event that we’ve been running for several years now. All across the US, Shire employees are encouraged to bring their children to the office to give them a taste of working life, and find out about the sort of career opportunities open to them in a company like Shire. An event like this also sends an important message about Shire’s commitment to a healthy balance between family life and the workplace.
We’re also supporting the next generation through our support of WhizKids, a Massachusetts-based organization that promotes science education in schools through clubs, field trips, science fairs, and mentoring. Like our partnership with the Royal Society of Chemistry in the UK, this is a great way for us to encourage talented young people to consider a career in the pharmaceutical industry.
World Kidney Day
For the first time this year Shire became a main sponsor of World Kidney Day, which takes place every March. The day is run by the International Society of Nephrology and the International Federation of Kidney Foundations. The 2008 event was marked in 66 countries, which hosted a range of different events and programs to raise awareness about kidney health and kidney disease.
Raising funds for MPS
21 staff from the HGT office in Massachusetts took part in sponsored walks for the National MPS Society in 2008. MPS stands for Mucopolysaccharidoses, which is a group of genetic diseases including Hunter syndrome, so it’s a cause close to the hearts of those who work at HGT.
National MPS Society
There were five walks throughout the year, and those who took part were also able to meet many patients and their families. As Susan Oommen, Senior Research Specialist at HGT, says, “I really felt privileged to be a part of the MPS Walk in LA. It makes all the hours I put in in the lab worthwhile.
Around the world in 2008: from Italy…
Shire’s operation in Florence supported a local ambulance service run solely by volunteers. We funded an emergency manual for their crews, which will also be used in first aid and health education sessions with local schoolchildren.
…to Ireland
Shire employees in Dublin chose two new charities to support last year. One was CARE, which works with people with special needs in County Kildare, and the other was the Bubblegum Club. The Club makes a huge difference to the lives of sick children, partly by helping with their medical care, but also by making some of their dreams come true, from going up in a helicopter to meeting their sporting heroes.
Responsibility
We provided more than $165,000 in funding to replace a 20-year old playground in Philadelphia’s
Feltonville Recreation
Centre.
Responsibility
It’s at the core of everything that we do at Shire. Read about our involvement in our communities, and our initiatives promoting responsibility.
