Our community work
Causes we care about
We’re committed to supporting charities in our local community, by giving our time and our skills wherever possible.
Our charity of the year: Many Tears Dog Rescue Centre
In 2004, Sylvia and Bill Van Atta founded Many Tears Animal Rescue Centre in Carmarthenshire, South Wales.
Since founding the charity, the centre is, and always has been under constant pressure to take in dogs from many different situations – most are ex-breeding dogs who have never seen the light of day or been handled by a human being, so they are extremely frightened and withdrawn. Some months they can take in up to 200 dogs, not forgetting to mention the cats, horses, and donkeys they also rescue.
Despite the pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis, Many Tears keep doing everything they can to help these animals in desperate need.
So why did we choose Many Tears as our Charity of the Year?
Well, anyone who knows Tony will know he absolutely loves his dogs and in 2022, Tony recused ex breeding dog, Rosie – a gorgeous Golden Retriever. Seeing first-hand the amazing work the charity does, coupled with his love of dogs, Tony wanted to do whatever he could to support them.
Watch this space for some exciting news about our fundraising activities for Many Tears Animal Rescue Centre.
If you’d like more information about the Many Tears Animal Rescue Centre or if you’d like to donate, please head to their website, or follow them on Facebook.
Claire’s Challenge
Claire’s life turned upside down on 6th May 2007, when she became paralysed from the chest down in a horse-riding accident.
Even in the early days post injury there were times Claire felt lucky as she still had the use of her arms, so she decided to do whatever she could to help raise money for the research into spinal cord injuries. To date, she has raised over £850,000 through various challenges.
It was in 2012 when Claire became headline news worldwide. She was the first paralysed person to walk the London Marathon, and she did it in a pioneering robotic suit. It took Claire 17 days, and she raised a staggering £220,000. Claire was awarded an MBE in 2017 for her stellar fundraising efforts!
After hearing her incredible story, Velocity FP made a donation to ‘Claire’s Flying Challenge’ which saw her become a fully qualified pilot – all donations went to the Nicholls Spinal Injury Foundation.
If you’d like to know more about Claire and the great things she is doing to raise money to help others with spinal cord injuries, please click here.
Coventry University
Developing and inspiring the next generation of talent within the finance sector is something Tony is extremely passionate about. Since 2020, Tony has been involved with Coventry University’s Wealth Management Mentoring Scheme, giving up his time to be a frequent guest lecturer and mentor the next generation of financial advisers.
“Tony has made a significant contribution to the student experience at Coventry Business School. He has given so many guest lectures at the University on various topics, including investments, pensions, protection and school fees. His talks are always insightful, thoughtful and interesting.
Tony is a wonderful person to work with, always supportive and willing to help. We are very lucky to have his invaluable support as this has helped enhance our students’ learning experience. Thank you so much Tony.”
Lien Luu, Associate Professor in Finance & Curriculum Lead in Finance at Coventry University