April’s Newsletter
By DR June Sanico Leave a comment 26 Apr 2018
Read all about what has been happening in the GSF Village.
https://issuu.com/gregseckerfoundation/docs/gsf-nl-april2018Tag: Employee volunteering
February Newsletter – read all about the Opening Ceremony.
Leave a comment 15 Feb 2018
Our February Newsletter is hot off the press. Read all about the Opening Ceremony here …..
https://issuu.com/gregseckerfoundation/docs/gsf-nl-february2018
“All in a week’s work”
Leave a comment 23 Nov 2017
All in a week’s work …..ÂÂ
Greg and his team have shown us how it can be done, all in just ONE WEEK! It is the pure passion in Greg that just comes naturally to him, to help everyone in his path and to help make a difference.ÂÂ
This is how his week unfolded …. On Monday the team left London Heathrow and flew to Dubai and then connected onto Manila. In Manila they were joined by our Ambassador, Ms Angelia Ong and they all flew on to Iloilo.  After an overnight in Iloilo they then flew to Lemery and then drove to the GSF village.ÂÂ
On arriving at the village, there was a buzz in the air – Mr Secker is here. The beneficiaries followed Greg around the village, not letting him out of their sight!  After a fantastic community lunch, cooked by the mothers of the village, the team were then entertained with dancing, games and a christmas tree decoration competition. Who was going to win 1st prize?
Whilst in the village, Greg was also being filmed for a pilot for a documentary which is about encouraging other successful entrepreneurs to integrate the gift of  giving into their “business as normal”. If Greg can house 500 people .. there are certainly a lot more entrepreneurs out there who can do the same. ÂÂ
Meanwhile in the village, Dean and Angelia did some story telling. Dean had written a book for the children of the village and with Angelia’s help translating it into Filipino they soon had the children giggling away.
After spending a day and a half in the GSF village it was time for the team to visit the school that the Foundation have pledged to help for the next 10 years.  Capanihan School is 2km from the GSF village.  Over the next few months we will build toilet facilities, an ICT computer training centre, a playground, a full refurbishment of the entire school and full catering for the children.
It was time for the team to bid farewell to the community and set off back to Manila to join Bill and Tani Austin from the Starkey Hearing Foundation, where they helped fit hearing aids to children that were deaf. To assist in the giving of a gift of hearing was a very emotional day with many of the team in floods of tears as the child gave the thumbs up as he or she heard for the first time in their life. ÂÂ
The team had two more important visits to make before flying home – one was the House of Refuge Orphanage where Greg had sponsored the build of the medical centre, named after his late Grandmother, The Maud Clinic. They firstly stocked up with presents and then went and caught up with all the children.  And secondly, to personally thank all the wonderful Learn to Trade employees who have raised a fantastic amount of money towards the construction of the village.ÂÂ
After five days it was time for the flight home …. Manila – Dubai – London.
 “All in a week’s work!” – Greg Secker – you are a true inspiration to us all. 
The Emergency Trip Video
Leave a comment 13 Sep 2017
In August you may recall us mentioning that Greg, Dean and our Ambassador, Ms Angelia Ong had to make an emergency trip to the village. One of our beneficiary families had lost their home in a flood and needed help. Greg made the decision to fly out and with the help of his team literally picked up the remains of the house (just the roof!) and carry it to a new safer plot.  The community all rallied together, it is just so reassuring that not only have we built a village but also created an environment where they all come together, and will now not only survive in, but thrive in.
It is thanks to you all with your donations that we are able to give these beneficiaries a life change. In January, we will be celebrating the completion of the village and welcome anyone that wants to join us to please do. For more information on this please get in touch with one of the team on info@gregseckerfoundation.com  We look forward to seeing you there and joining us in this life changing experience.ÂÂ
CPU hold a ‘Packaging Lecture’ in the village
Leave a comment 11 Sep 2017
Last Saturday, the Department of Packaging, from the College of Engineering, at the Central Philippine University visited the Greg Secker Foundation Village to conduct a series of Lectures and activities.  This course can only be taken at the CPU so we were incredibly lucky to have the students with us.
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In line with the course, the students taught the beneficiaries all about packaging products, and how important it is to put a label on correctly so that it is eye catching to the consumer. Our ‘Atsara Ladies’ really benefited from listening to this.  A couple of months ago, we mentioned that our mothers from the village were setting up their own ‘Atsara’ business, (Picked Papaya).
A few of the students designed some labels which are fantastic – now we just need to decide, with their help and yours of course, which one would look best. ÂÂ
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The children from Grade four, five and six also had a fun day, learning Origami (Japanese way of folding paper). They also received gifts of school supplies which was so kind of the students.ÂÂ
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Once the lectures were finished and the children had finished doing Origami, everyone came together and all took part in games and dancing which filled the afternoon with laughter, not only from the children but the students and parents too.  We are so lucky to have such a wonderful community.
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And finally, the students donated two dustbins to be used in the village. So generous, thank you for everything that you do to help the beneficiaries in our village. ÂÂ
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Giving to Charity Good for Business Survey Finds
Leave a comment 7 Sep 2017
New research from the Greg Secker Foundation and YouGov finds 54% of UK respondents believe UK businesses should give a percentage of annual profit to charity by law.ÂÂ
LONDON, UK, September 5, 2017 – New research from social development charity, the Greg Secker Foundation, has revealed 54% of UK respondents believe UK businesses should be required to give a percentage of their annual profits to charity by law, outlining a strong moral obligation for businesses within the UK. The research – conducted among over 2,000 UK adults (+18) – questioned public opinion on whether UK businesses are doing enough for charities. The results show many UK businesses are missing a trick by not focusing more of their efforts on philanthropic activities.
The findings revealed donating a small percentage of annual profits (up to 5%) to charity would significantly better the image of the business to consumers. If consumers knew a UK business gave 5% of its annual profits to charity:
- 43% would have a more positive opinion of the company
- 20% would use this company over competitors companies
- 17% would recommend the company to friends/family
The research also found donating a percentage of profits isn’t the only option for businesses, with 41% of those surveyed believing businesses should be doing more for charity as a whole. Offering pro-bono services that map back to the business’ specific area of expertise came out on top with 25% of respondents wanting to see more of this. Donating more of their profits followed with 24% and upskilling members of the community 21%.
“UK businesses are already doing excellent work for the third sector, and the government’s tax relief incentives are certainly a step in the right direction. However, what these results show is there is public appetite for more, both morally and legally,†said Greg Secker, founder of the Greg Secker Foundation. “Time and time again we see the benefits a thorough corporate social responsibility programme offers businesses, with the figures here speaking for themselves. By simply donating a small percentage of annual profits to charity, businesses are able to increase brand loyalty, positively shift perceptions, and increase their potential customer pool, all the while helping a good cause. We would just like to encourage businesses to keep the third sector in mind because helping out is good for business.â€Â
Research Methodology
All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov Plc. Total sample size was 2191 adults. Fieldwork was undertaken between 22nd – 23rd August 2017. The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all UK adults (aged 18+). References to “UK businesses”, relate to private sector businesses of 50 or more employees.
Greg, Angelia and Dean feature in the Daily Guardian….
Leave a comment 17 Aug 2017
https://thedailyguardian.net/others/greg-secker-foundation-village-rising-ashes-destruction/
Putting Angelia to work 😉
Leave a comment 11 Aug 2017
Well as you can imagine, Angelia has been put straight to work in the foundation as our new Ambassador. After helping Greg move Nena and her two sons last week, Angelia has been keen to keep the ball rolling.
She started by giving a message of encouragement to the beneficiaries and the newly elected Village Officers. She spoke about her advocacy to save mother nature, and that being poor is not wrong unless you strive to have a better life for your family and children. ‘We can, so we will’ – Her slogan from winning Miss Earth in 2015. Our Beneficiaries were so amazed by her beauty and words. And as she spoke in their mother tongue she oozed sincerity.
Next Angelia planted a Narra tree which is the National tree of the Philippines and a symbol to welcome her in to the Foundation. ÂÂ
Alya our social worker, showed Angelia the new crèche. This is mainly used so our builders, contractors and other workers on site, have a safe place for their children to be cared for during the day. Alya did such a great job making the crèche an inviting and friendly place for the children – Thanks Alya.
Angelia handed out plastic toy gardening tools to the children, so they could learn how to plant and grow fruit and vegetables. These type of life skills are so important for them to be self sufficient, and really will help give them the best start in life.
In addition to the crèche we have converted some of the houses into class rooms temporarily. Teachers from the CPU (Central Philippines University), have been teaching Saturday classes every week all the way from Kindergarten to Grade Six. Angelia and Greg left little pre-school kits for the kids, this included work books, exercise books, reading books and  colouring books.
They also left a lovely message on the chalk board to motivate and inspire the children. Alya showed them the tables and chairs in the classrooms as these were all made by our beneficiary fathers. ÂÂ
We are so grateful to have Angelia on board, and can see the impact she will make is huge.
Thanks again from all of us at GSF.
Rescuing Raymond – The Emergency Trip
1 Reply 7 Aug 2017
Are you ready for an emotional roller coaster? I hope you’ve got a box of tissues close by!
Last week, we were having our foundation update call as normal. DR our project co-ordinator based in the Philippines alerted us about a flood, that had affected one of our beneficiary families due to move into the village later this year.
Nena the mother, her two boys Rodolfo and Raymond and her beautiful baby granddaughter.
Raymond was blinded in an accident at the age of 10 and after the boy’s Father passed away, despite being completely blind, Raymond became the family’s main bread-winner. Due to his disability, he is completely dependent on his brother Rodolfo for his every need and every day they both walk for over an hour to the next town where Rodolfo helps Raymond find a safe place to sit, so he can spend the day begging for money. Meanwhile Rodolfo rents a bicycle with a sidecar and uses it as a taxi to ferry people around the town.
Together in a day they earn enough money to put food on the table for just one single day.
Their home is made from Bamboo and scrap wood and located next to the Capinahan river. When the river flooded their wooden home was damaged and all their belongings ruined. With this news Greg organised to fly out and offer them some immediate support taking with him Dean Russell, Team Lead for the trip. 
Now a little side note…
The Greg Secker Foundation has been in regular conversations with Angelia Ong a Chinese Filipino model and beauty queen who was crowned Miss Philippines Earth 2015 and was later crowned as Miss Earth 2015. Born in Manilla but raised in Iloilo City she had heard of our foundation and strongly believed in the work we are doing! We decided to approach her with a view to making her an Ambassador.
We are very pleased to announce that she accepted! With Greg’s short notice trip to help Nena and her family he called in the troops, including Angelia.
They met in Manilla and flew down to Lemery together. A helicopter was the quickest way to get them to Iloilo where DR picked them up and took them straight to Nena, Raymond and Rodolfo.
This is what they saw..
Greg comforted them and promised them he wouldn’t leave before making their living situation safer.
Greg had an idea, but needed more helping hands! He took the GSF team back to the village to speak to the contractors working on site and the beneficiaries tidying. They decided on a well know process called Bayanihan system, this is a Filipino custom derived from a Filipino word “bayanâ€Â, which means nation, town or community. The term bayanihan itself literally means “being in a bayanâ€Â, which refers to the spirit of communal unity, work and cooperation to achieve a particular goal. Bayanihan also comes from the word “bayani” which means ‘hero’. It can also mean that by helping one another, we can be each other’s hero.
It took three trucks to bring the willing volunteers back to Nena. Then this happened…
We are so pleased to announce that the house move into the village was successful and Nena and her family are now safe from future floods.
As you can imagine this caught the attention of the media! They have promised to share with us some footage of the day so keep your eyes out for this on our Facebook page.
A big thank you to all of our GSF team, contractors and beneficiaries for all your hard work and help on this trip! We have shown that…
Steve Rae meets Fatima who received a life saving operation a couple of years ago.
Leave a comment 22 Jun 2017
Two years ago, Greg Secker our Founder, met an eight year old girl called Fatima.  She had been living with a debilitating cancerous grown on the side of her hip. Fatima’s parents told Greg that she could not go to school because Fatima was being bullied by the other children. Greg was so moved by her bravery and determination that he organised for Fatima to have surgery to remove the growth.
After the surgery Greg visited Fatima to see her progress and was delighted to see a very happy smiling girl who would now have the chance of a happier childhood and most importantly the courage to go back to school. Fatima’s father was overjoyed and the best news is that Fatima’s family are one of the beneficiaries of the build a house project.
Two years have now passed and in this video Steve Rae catches up with Fatima and her father.ÂÂ