Yorkshire tech boss donates consultancy time in aid of premature birth charity

Tim Mercer – CEO of disruptive cloud technology firm Vapour – has embarked on a fundraising mission for the premature birth charity, Borne. And he’s calling on business and IT leaders to collaborate with him to help fill the coffers.

Over the next six months, Tim has pledged to donate up to 24 days of his time to deliver digital transformation sessions for organisations large and small. Covering topics ranging from secure hybrid working infrastructures and cloud-based communications, through to debunking the misconceptions associated with SD-WAN and robotic process automation, Vapour will not earn a penny from these consultations.

But in return for his expertise, Tim will be asking the firms to donate £250 for a three-hour session, or £500 for a seven-hour session. And 100% of the monies raised, will go towards hitting the bold target that the Vapour team has set.

Borne was announced as Vapour’s charity for the next 12 months only a couple of weeks ago, and by the end of June 2022, colleagues hope to have raised £23,000 for this worthy cause.

“When we unveiled Borne as our chosen charity for 2021-22, we started drumming up funds the very same day with a staff auction,” said Tim. “Employees were brimming with ideas to climb mountains, clock up the miles, get quizzing and hold bake off style competitions. But reaching our colossal £23,000 target will be a feat in itself. So, it’s important we think of as many ideas as possible.

“As organisations have undergone more workplace change in the past 12 months than they ordinarily would in a 5-10 year period, I thought that the donation of my time, industry knowledge and advice could help fire up our fundraising efforts, while also benefitting the organisations I talk to. I’m willing to cover any topic from our toolkit, or any solution that we currently highlight on our website. So, I look forward to discovering what I’ll be tasked with, and hope to see the coffers filling up.”

Reflecting on the reasons for choosing Borne – an organisation dedicated to saving lives, preventing disability, and creating lifelong health for mothers and babies – Tim added: “Our families are what we seek to protect the most, and with premature birth an ongoing problem that nobody understands, there seemed no better cause.

“It is the leading reason for childhood mortality in the world today. More significant than infection, trauma or cancer, it affects some 15 million babies across the world every year – including nearly 60,000 in the UK. So, we want to do our bit to help stop babies being born too soon. And we hope we can drum up a fair amount of support for our varied efforts.”

To get involved with this initiative, contact gs@vapourcloud.com.