Tag Archive for: Burns Supper

The Budapest Burns Supper has been a highlight of the expat ball season for more than twenty years now. Saturday night saw another incredible effort to raise money for sick and under privileged children in Hungary.

On Saturday 25th January the Corinthia Hotel Budapest once again hosted a night of haggis, whisky, pipers, the work of Rabbie Burns and of course, a huge fund-raising effort. Over 300 guests packed into the elegant hotel ballroom, dressed in their Scottish finery.

The event loosely follows the format of a traditional Burns Supper, a tribute to the life and works of Scotland’s Bard, Robert Burns. Saturday night started out with Scottish songs, performed by the choir of the Budapest British International School, after which the pipers and drummers, specially flown in from Scotland as always, announced that dinner will shortly be served.

Charity and Culture at the 23rd Budapest Burns Supper

Highlights of the evening included a very amusing toast to the lassies and lassies’ reply, given by professional actors Shyvonne Ahmmad and Angus Taylor from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in Glasgow and a rendition of Burns’ poem O Wert Thou in the Cauld Blast in Hungarian by Hungarian Scottish Society and Robert Burns International Foundation founder, Zoltán Magyar.

SME Awards

For the second year in a row, the organisers of the Burns Supper focused on the growing Small and Medium Enterprise Sponsorship scheme. Whilst smaller businesses cannot make the significant donations that multinational companies can, as a percentage of their revenue, their contributions are far larger.

The purpose of the SME sponsorship scheme is to allow smaller companies to have their own fund-raising projects, rather than their contributions going into a larger “pot”.

This time, the RBIF chose to honour two SMEs that have donated larger amounts to the foundation. Eszter Balázs, an insurance agent with Generali, donates a percentage of every sale she makes, an incredible commitment for a small business owner. Stuart McAlister represented his company, Inter Relocation, which has donated funds to help hospitals in Makó and Hódmezővásárhely buy key equipment over the last two years.

Both Eszter and Stuart were awarded with traditional Scottish Quaichs, shared sipping cups that symbolise their organisations’ spirit of giving.

An amazing result

Preliminary figures suggest that the 23rd Budapest Burns Supper raised in excess of 11 million HUF. This is another incredible result and will significantly aid the Robert Burns International Foundation in reaching its charitable goals for 2020.

Photo credits: Pelle Zoltán Photography/ Robert Burns International Foundation

At the recent Budapest Burns Supper, Inter Relocation once again helped the Robert Burns International Foundation to raise a record sum to support sick and under privileged children.

The charity ball held by the Robert Burns International Foundation each year. Inter Relocation’s bronze sponsorship of the Burns Supper made a contribution to a record total donation, more than €26,000.

The beneficiary of the donation is the Miskolc Children Hospital, the Tűzoltó street Children Hospital, the Péterfy Sándor Hospital children’s ward and a nursery in a small and less fortunate Hungarian village, Zabar.

Inter Relocation Sponsors Burns Supper for Children’s Hospitals

Owner Stuart McAlister helped the foundation set up a new SME sponsorship program. On the initiative of Inter Relocation, the foundation supported a children’s hospital in Miskolc.

Read the interview with Stuart McAlister about the SME (small and medium enterprises) sponsorship scheme. (Released in the Robert Burns International Foundation’s publication on 21st January 2017).

The joint patrons are the British Ambassador in Hungary and the Hungarian Ambassador in London. The Deputy Head of the UK Mission has a permanent seat on the Curatorium that runs the foundation. Legendary football manager, Sir Alex Ferguson was appointed as the Honorary President.

Inter Relocation and the Budapest Robert Burns Supper

The company’s longest standing charitable effort is its ongoing sponsorship of the Budapest Robert Burns Supper and its associated charity, the Robert Burns International Foundation. Inter Relocation has sponsored the supper since 2002. Stuart McAlister was a committee member for 11 years and worked as Chairman of the event for 6 years.

The Robert Burns International Foundation and the Burns Supper are committed to raising money for sick and under privileged children in Hungary. The organisation have raised over 1 million EUR since starting their good works in 1996. When the supper first began the focus was on Budapest (specifically the 2nd department of Paediatrics at Semmelweis University Hospital). However, support has expanded to hospitals, orphanages and other children’s organisations outside the capital.

 

Interview with Inter Relocation owner Stuart McAlister about the SME (small and medium enterprises) sponsorship scheme.

The SME Sponsorship Scheme marks a new chapter in the RBIF’s fundraising efforts. It is one that opens up the potential of giving purposefully for charity to a much wider range of companies. The SME Sponsorship Scheme involves the RBIF teaming up with small and medium-sized enterprises to fund targeted smaller-scale projects. These small-scale projects make a huge impact on improving child welfare in Hungary. For the first project, the RBIF and Inter Relocation supported a children’s hospital in Miskolc specialised in hand surgery.

Below, we asked Stuart McAlister, managing director of Inter Relocation, about the scheme and his motives for helping the RBIF.

Stuart, you’re no stranger to the RBIF, but this time you’re helping in a different way, could you explain why?

I’ve been involved in the Burns Supper and latterly the RBIF since 2001. One of the aspects of fundraising that has always bothered me is that the sponsorship focus was always on the companies that could donate the most in absolute cash. Small and medium enterprises such as Inter Relocation can’t contribute the amounts that multi-national companies can. But as a percentage of their annual turnover, the amounts are far larger.
Back in the spring of 2016, I sat down with Dougie Arnott with the intention of addressing this challenge. I could see a way to highlight the contribution of smaller sponsor organisations and to make those sponsors feel they are making a real difference.

What Dougie suggested was to work with the Curatorium of the RBIF and its medical adviser to determine the best causes to raise funds for. We were searching for smaller projects that companies such as Inter Relocation could call their own. Inter Relocation is now making a major contribution to a specific project we chose for a hospital in Miskolc. It feels good to be contributing to something concrete, rather than just making a donation into a general fund.

A successful partnership is a win-win situation for both sides. What does the RBIF offer you and why do you support the foundation?

The key for me with any charitable involvement is that said charity must keep its over- heads to an absolute minimum. The RBIF does this as well or better than any charity organisation I know in Hungary. Inter Relocation is a small organisation but we have been very fortunate to have the chance to operate successfully in Hungary for the last fifteen years. Where we have the chance to give a little back, we like to do so. When we make any kind of contribution we want both to know where the money goes, and to see complete transparency in the organisation we donate to. With the RBIF, both our key criteria are met.

How does the RBIF’s activity fit in with your company’s CSR initiatives? Why would you recommend the RBIF to others considering sponsorship?

Inter Relocation’s CSR policy is very much about giving back to the community we live and operate in. The RBIF’s long-term commitment to helping sick and under privileged children in Hungary very much aligns with our desire to help wherever we can. The new addition of the facility for the RBIF to provide us with our own smaller charity project makes our contribution all the more personal and effective. I would certainly recommend having the RBIF facilitate sponsorship to any small or medium company that wishes to get its staff behind a specific project.

-Released in the Robert Burns International Foundation’s publication on 21st January 2017-