Fonix to power mobile donations for The Prince’s Trust Awards on ITV

Fonix logo in blue

 

Today, Fonix announced that it will be providing the text donation mechanic for The Prince’s Trust Awards. SMS will feature on the awards for the first time in its history. Hosted by Ant & Dec, The Prince’s Trust Awards will air today on ITV.

The Awards recognise young people who have succeeded against all the odds, improved their chances in life and had a positive impact on their local community.

Fonix will be working with The Prince’s Trust and ITV to provide a text-to-donate platform, enabling donors to send a text message to donate either £10, £20, £30 or £40, all charged to their mobile phone bills.

The Prince’s Trust helps young people from disadvantaged communities to get their lives back on track by giving them the confidence and skills to live, learn and earn. Founded by HRH The Prince of Wales in 1976, the charity supports 11 to 30-year-olds across the UK who are unemployed, those struggling at school or at risk of exclusion. Since its inception The Trust has supported more than one million young people in the UK.

Clare Charles, Head of Client Management, said: “At Fonix, we have seen the huge impact of text donations across televised campaigns and are delighted that this will feature on The Prince’s Trust Awards show. We’re looking forward to seeing the results and the difference it makes to help support young people.”

Jessica Mitchell, Individual Supporters Manager for The Princes Trust, said: “Each year, The Prince’s Trust Awards allows us to celebrate the achievements and admire the resilience of young people across the UK and internationally. Incorporating fundraising into the show for the very first time is a natural and exciting addition for us. Fonix’s experience within the charity sector and continued success with text-to-donate made the partnership an exciting prospect.”

Text-to-donate raises over £6.8m in mobile donations for the Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal

Fonix logo in blue

 

Fonix has been the mobile donation partner for the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal.

More than £6.8m has been raised by the UK public via text-to-donate so far, to support the aid effort in Ukraine and in neighbouring countries.

Since the beginning of March text-to-donate has been promoted across the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5, Sky, Radiocentre, BT Sport and Co-op to name a few.

Concert for Ukraine, which took place in the UK on 29 March, raised more than £4.9m in mobile donations, helping contribute to the £13.4m raised on the night of the Appeal.

The two-hour show brought together names from the world of music for a unique event spreading a message of hope and support, and most importantly, raising funds for the ongoing DEC Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal. The live show was broadcast across ITV, STV, ITV Hub and STV Player.

The show promoted text-to-donate, allowing donors to donate via text at one of four price points: £10, £20, £30 and £40. Donations were charged to a donor’s mobile phone bill.

Rob Weisz, CEO of Fonix, said: “We are so very proud to be able to work with the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) to help the humanitarian effort to support those affected by the crisis in Ukraine.”

Simon Beresford, Director of Fundraising and Marketing of DEC, added: “We’re thankful to Fonix for enabling mobile donations so quickly and to the generous UK public whose donations will go on to make such a difference. As humanitarian needs continue to grow, the money raised will help to provide vital support to families caught up in this devastating conflict.”

Take a Journey with Mobile Billing – EE BT event, supported by aimm

On the 23rd March EE/BT, supported by aimm, hosted the  ‘Take a Journey with Mobile Billing’ event at the BT Tower.

The aim of the event was to provide an introduction to Charge to Bill, as an additional payment method for the transport and parking sector.  The event demonstrated how – by giving a wider choice of payment options to their customers – the transport sector could reach those that may not wish to or are able to buy transport tickets the traditional ways.

Naomi Hone, Charge to Bill Manager at EE/BT said: ‘there are 72 million mobile phones in the UK, and carrier billing is already automatically enabled on most of them. This essentially means that the majority of people are walking around with a ticketing vending machine in their pocket!’

With speakers from aimm, EE, Kaleyra and Plusdial, as well as a panel featuring Fonix and DMB, answering questions  from the audience, it was a great opportunity to start the conversation around the opportunities that mobile billing can provide the transport industry.

Fonix announces half year report

Fonix, the mobile payment and messaging specialist, which was admitted to AIM on London’s Stock Exchange in October 2020, is pleased to release its half year results.

Fonix’s CEO, Rob Weisz stated, “We’re really excited about publishing our interim report which highlights the great start we have had to life as a publicly listed company”

The company was established in 2006 and has embraced the growing needs of the mobile payments and messaging landscape. Fonix will continue to focus on providing high quality products and supporting clients across its core operating sectors including media, broadcast, charity and gaming.

Rob Weisz added, “We’re really proud to be working with many high-profile brands such as ITV, Global, Bauer Media and BBC Children in Need and we look forward to expanding on this and driving the business forward in 2021.”

View Fonix’s full Interim Report here.

New Board members announced

Throughout February we were accepting nominations from members to join the aimm Board.

We had 6 positions available and received 4 nominations from candidates so there is no need to go to a vote. This means we are able to announce our new Board members to you now.

  • Naomi  Hone – EE
  • Ana-Rosa Broster – Telefonica

We are also pleased that two members of the existing Board decided to re-stand and will continue to serve on the Board:

  • Rob Weisz – Fonix 
  • Alan Partington – Telecom2

You can learn more about our new Board members from the Candidate Information sheet.

Please join us in congratulating them, and we look forward to working with them, when they officially start their new roles on the 1st April. They will now hold their seats on the Board for the next two years.

 

 

Photo by Patrick Fore on Unsplash