International Day of Charity 2025
5 September 2025
It’s International Day of Charity, a moment to encourage people worldwide to support charitable causes and make a positive impact.
Through our John Maxwell Menzies (JMM) Community Fund, we’re proud to support a range of charitable, voluntary and community related activities across the world.🌍
Below you can read lots of great stories about colleagues who are making a difference to the lives of others through donations from JMM Fund.💙
Before we get into things, you can find out more about the JMM fund, including how you can apply, 👉here!
Cargo colleague’s mission to transform lives
Along the West African Coast, you will find the country of Liberia where we operate at Roberts International Airport (ROB), near the capital city of Monrovia. It’s the country’s busiest airport and features a runway that was once also used as an emergency landing site for the U.S. Space Shuttle programme.🚀
Young Demie is a ROB cargo colleague on a mission to transform lives through kindness, compassion and generosity.🫶
As founder and president of the Doris Soccer Club, Young Demie has helped local children and teenagers get into sport by ensuring they have everything they need to take to the field. Through the support of the JMM Fund, he hopes to buy jerseys, boots and training equipment for the football club.⚽
And his ambitions extend far beyond the boundaries of the pitch.
Young Demie is also a part of the Faith Tabernacle Children Foundation, an organisation helping pay tuition fees and providing pencils, pens, notebooks and bags for local students.
What’s next?
Discussing the future, Young Demie said:
“Currently, we are going through a period of struggle, but we hope to one day build a school and playing pitch for the children.”
Incredible work, Young Demie!💙
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Game on!
Winters in Scotland are best described in three words:
Cold.🥶 Wet.☔ Windy.💨
Certainly not the best weather conditions for playing football!⚽
Michal Oginski, Finance Projects Manager based in Edinburgh knows that all too well and wanted to support his daughter’s football team to continue playing through the winter months.
Cramond FC are a local club established in 1979. In 2023, they made a significant leap forward with the creation of a girls’ team and, in less than a year, the programme grew to six squads across three age groups.
Michal’s daughter is one of the rising stars of the Under-12s team and plays as a goalkeeper – probably the muddiest position on the football pitch!🥅
Through a donation from the JMM Fund, the team will have access to winter wear, as well as additional equipment to help with training.
Not only will this set the team up for the long season ahead, but it’ll also help them to continue growing women’s football.📈
Game on!
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🏒 Stick by them.
The QEII Foundation offers mental health support to cancer patients and survivors in Nova Scotia, Canada. They stick by them throughout their journey, recognising the many mental challenges people face following a cancer diagnosis.
Sharon Needham, Regional Manager for Fuel Operations – a cancer survivor herself – hosts an annual hockey tournament in support of the foundation. It’s fittingly called:
Hockey for Hope
The tournament is taking place this weekend and we're proud to be involved with the event for the third year running!
👏 Thank you, Sharon. You do incredible work for such an important cause.
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Grassroots football for all
Matamata is a small Waikato town in New Zealand, with a population of just 9,000 people. It is better known by many as Hobbiton, a fictional village from the Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit movie trilogies.
The Matamata Swifts field teams across men’s, women’s and development leagues and run programmes to support their community.
Mike Smith, Logistics Manager at Hamilton aero maintenance (part of the Menzies aviation engineering division) is a member of the club, and through the JMM Fund, secured coaching equipment and footballs for local children – and no, he didn’t need the help of hobbits, elves or even wizards to make the magic happen.
The donation meant that the 70 children who attend the club’s early development programme each received their own football to bring to training sessions and practice with at home.
This donation is great for the club, shaping the next generation of players, and it’s great for the children, who are developing their skills.
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Challenge complete ✅
Catriona Callaghan is Head of Tax & Internal Audit at Menzies. Owen Harkins is our Deputy Company Secretary. This is the story of how they battled the elements, navigated through mountains and conquered The Highland Cross.
The Highland Cross is a 50-mile duathlon, where participants must travel across Scotland from Kintail to Beauly, by:
🏃 Running 20 miles
🚴 Cycling 30 miles
Alongside their teammate Euan, Catriona and Owen trained in their spare time, using every opportunity to prepare themselves for the challenge ahead.
When the time came, they faced hot weather conditions, steep hills and had to push themselves to the limit to cross the finish line. 🏁
They raised almost £2,000 for good causes, £500 of which was a donation from the John Maxwell Menzies (JMM) Fund.
Great work Catriona, Owen and Euan – a fantastic achievement! 👏
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