The Spirit Of Giving

Scottish spirits company Edrington’s employee-driven philosophy on corporate social responsibility has resulted in ground-up initiatives that are passionately and sustainably run by its staff. Grace Ma finds out how

- Grace Ma

EVER SINCE EDRINGTON SINGAPORE employee, Chang Xinyue, volunteered to organise the company’s first charity cycle from Kuala Lumpur to Singapore in 2015, she has progressed from simply accompanying the riders and overseeing the event logistics to becoming a cyclist herself, participating for two consecutive years.

In 2016, the executive assistant trained for six months to cycle 500km over four days from Taipei to Kaohsiung in Taiwan. Last November, she pedalled 600km over five days from Siem Reap to Sihanoukville in Cambodia. She was joined by 49 other colleagues from Edrington’s Asia offices to raise funds for M’Lop Tapang, a shelter for children who are vulnerable to abuse. She is already planning to participate in the 630km fund-raising journey in Vietnam this November.

Chang’s enthusiastic involvement epitomises how corporate social responsibility projects at Edrington are championed from ground up rather than top down. The Edrington Charity Cycle initiative was first mooted by its regional managing director for Asia-Pacific and India, Martin Reimann, as a personal fitness goal that morphed into a meaningful adventure. It soon became an annual event that galvanised the company’s employees to support worthy causes. M’Lop Tapang, for example, was chosen after a group of them had visited the shelter early last year and were moved by their experiences there.