Results: Maersk Charity Vote

Here are the results of the online vote For Argyll has run in connection with part of the Maersk programme of donations to local charities and community organisations in the Loch Striven area, where six of its ships are taking time out in the recession.

The results are given in order of percentage of the vote achieved – and these are the percentages of Maersk’s overall donation for the online vote which each will receive.

• 25%    Rothesay & District Pipe Band
• 20%    Project recovering Barnes Wallis Bouncing Bomb Prototypes from Loch Striven
• 18%    Innellan and Toward Family Centre
• 15%    Isle of Bute Sailing Club
• 9%      Dunoon Burgh Hall Restoration Project
• 7%      Toward and Loch Striven Memorial Hall
• 5%      Cowalfest
• 1%      Innellan Hall

Now let’s unveil some details of the disguises we gave these contestants in the nightly reports we published on the progress of the vote.

• Rothesay and District Pipe Band Association was one of the two first day front runners, going into the lead on day one and polling steadily, increasing its lead day-on-day until the very end of the vote.
• The Barnes Wallis project was its fellow hare – the one first off the blocks, performing strongly on the first day and then stalling until it woke up and made a crazy last dash in the last 24 hours – powering into second place.
• The two who didn’t open their accounts until day two were Innellan and Toward Famioly Centre and Innellan Hall. The first of these then performed steadily and well to finish a good third. Innellan Hall was the other late opener and the runner wh seemed to sit down on the track to observe rather than keep on running.This situation changed little throughout the vote.
• Isle of Bute Sailing club made its mark from the outset and had some exciting tied positions at the end of two, if not, three, days voting.
• Dunoon Burgh Hall got going on day one, then stalled, then steadily made respectable progress.
• Cowalfest began quite positively and fell away.
• Toward and Innellan Memorial Hall took time to get into its stride and then settled down at a pace set for a race longer than this one was set to be.

Representatives from all of the organisations who will benefit in this way have been invited to a reception on the raft of ships in Loch Striven on Monday 26th April, where they will receive the cheques the company’s accounts office is, as we write, scrambling to get ready. We will be there and will report on the occasion.

Kate Sanderson from Maersk’s London office has been centrally involved in facilitating connections between the local communities and the ships in Loch Striven and has got to know a range of members of the community – as has Captain David Johnstone, skipper of the raft.

We asked Kate, at the end of this process, what she would like to say about the experience: ‘Maersk has worked hard to ensure that the distribution of the charitable fund has been fair and equal across the 3 communities – east and west shores of the loch and the isle of Bute – who are affected by the ships laid up on Loch Striven.

‘The vote on ForArgyll – which is in addition to the confirmed donations to other nominated local organisations – has provided opportunity for the local people to choose where a proportion of the fund is distributed as we felt it was important that the communities themselves had a chance to contribute to the decision-making in as transparent a way as possible.

‘There has been some criticism for this initiative, but hopefully the majority of people will appreciate it has always been Maersk’s intention to donate the money as fairly as possible under the circumstances.

‘It’s been really interesting to hear how the voting progressed and we’re delighted to be able to help all the different charities and organisations in some way. Hopefully these donations will make a positive difference in the local area and ultimately benefit a broad section of the local population’.

Nothing is ever perfect. The heart if the matter is that Maersk’s intentions have been benevolent and philanthropic from the outset and the company’s track record shows that corporate social responsibility – building positive and supportive relationships between the companies and the communities hosting its various operations – has long been central to its ethos.

Few large corporations behave like this – some of them, like Clydeport, a sharp immediate contrast in the Loch Striven situation. So, eyes wide open, we applaud Maersk for its attitude.

The photograph at the top, showing Maersk Boston, the nearest of the six ships to the east shore of Loch Striven – with unconcerned young Highland cattle in the foreground, is  by copyright holder Rebecca Martin.