Advent Action

Category: Advent Action

Advent Global Relief Fund – our global effort to combat Covid-19

The Covid-19 pandemic affects us all and we are acting fast to mobilize the capabilities of the Global Advent community to combat the impact of the outbreak.

Committed to the Fund

The Advent Global Relief Fund (AGRF) is our central vehicle for giving. It enables us to efficiently channel resources to those most profoundly affected. Our focus is on healthcare and other front-line workers, vulnerable communities and the employees of our portfolio companies.

The AGRF comprises an initial $25 million cornerstone commitment from our senior partners which is growing daily thanks to the generosity of our people and the wider Advent community.

All of our offices have quickly identified organizations that are having a direct impact in their area. By distributing funds at the local-office level, we are best able to help the organizations, initiatives and heroic individuals leading the fight against Covid-19 in their communities.

The stories on this website provide a snapshot of the inspiring leadership shown by our portfolio companies and the initiatives we are proud to support.

Click on the videos below to learn how the AGRF is making a difference around the world.

Chinese efforts focus on healthcare support

Three charities backed in China offering support to healthcare professionals.

Medical masks donated

Since the outbreak of the novel coronavirus in December 2019, China has been at the forefront of developing treatments and initiating the extreme social measures that we are now seeing around the world to bring it under control. At the head of this effort from the start have been dedicated healthcare professionals who have battled day-and-night in completely unprecedented circumstances. To help support this effort, our Chinese team has made donations to three foundations that are heavily involved in supporting the ongoing work of hospitals and frontline medical staff.

The Hubei Charity Federation(“HBCF”) is the official government foundation for Wuhan city in Hubei province, ground-zero in the outbreak of this global pandemic. From the start, the Jinyintan Hospital in Wuhan has fought to contain the outbreak, treating thousands of Covid-19 patients and dealing with high infection rates amongst its medical staff. The Hospital head, Dingyu Zhang became a nationwide hero and has led a staff of more than 500 physicians, nurses and volunteers in the city’s three-month battle against the virus. Our donation to HBCF has been allocated to the Jinyintan Hospital to support the medical staff in their ongoing battle.

The Shanghai Charity Foundation (“SCF”) is the official channel for Covid-19 relief and epidemic control efforts in Shanghai and is also supporting charitable activities to Hubei province. It has recently been at the forefront of epidemic control against the spate of new imported cases in the city.

Our final donation is to The Shanghai United Foundation (“SUF”), a ten-year old institution that is now running Covid-19 relief efforts across the country. The Foundation is prioritising efforts on medical staff, patients, children, local community relief and healthcare professionals. So far, the SUF has completed 18 anti-epidemic public welfare projects and is implementing 22 more. It also provided anti-epidemic materials for 138 rural kindergartens and primary schools in China with its ‘Handwashing Project’. So far, SUF has donated a total of 5,000 pieces of medical protective glasses or protective masks, 73,000 pairs of medical gloves, 13,000 pieces of medical protective suits, 620,000 medical masks, 600 disinfection lamps and food supplies. Our donation has helped support SUF’s current initiative – providing PPE to Suifenhe port of entry and other cities in Heilongjiang province, where hundreds of new cases were reported in April.

Cyprus invests in local hospital capacity

Cypriot team use long-standing charitable relationship to back local hospitals.

Our team in Cyprus has had a long-standing relationship with the Karaiskakion Foundation (KF), a non-profit organisation that provides state of the art diagnostic and treatment services to leukaemia patients all over the world.

During the current crisis, the Foundation has expanded its charitable remit to help local hospitals deal with the massively increased patient numbers they are seeing as a result of Covid-19. The Foundation will use the Advent Global Relief Fund donation, which has been doubled by the local Cypriot office, to acquire ventilators and other essential hardware for local hospitals.

Five Spanish foundations benefit from Advent Global Relief Fund

Grants will support vital work in medical research, emergency food distribution and social care.

8,500

Hospital employees to be tested

In Spain, we have chosen five key organizations to receive financial support from the Advent Global Relief Fund.

The Fundación Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria Gregorio Marañón is a foundation for biomedical research with around 1,100 scientific staff. Based at Spain’s largest hospital, the Gregorio Marañón in Madrid, it is a non-profit body that relies entirely on income from philanthropy, research grants, covenants, clinical trials and royalties. Advent’s donation will help in two critical areas: testing all the hospital’s 8,500 employees for Covid-19, and supporting research into how the virus is spread.

Aladina is a foundation that provides psychological support and financial assistance to children with cancer and their families – services that have been put under considerable strain by the coronavirus pandemic. Likewise, there has been increased demand on the Fundación Banco de Alimentos de Madrid. The non-profit organization collects food from suppliers, distributing it to charities that support some of the most disadvantaged people in the Spanish capital.

Caritas Española is the Catholic Church’s official organization in Spain for social relief, with a mission to help vulnerable and excluded people, irrespective of religious affiliation. It coordinates a global network of 70 local offices, 4,600 staff and around 83,000 volunteers which has allowed it to deliver relief to those who need it most, often as the first responder. The Charity has also launched the ‘Covid-19 Response Fund’ to coordinate its worldwide efforts. The fund will prioritize the provision of health care services in areas such as: prevention and control of infections, access to clean water and sanitation and the procurement of personal protective equipment.

Lastly, Fundación Mensajeros de la Paz is a non-profit foundation that aims to integrate Spain’s most vulnerable people into civil society. Its work includes protecting abandoned children, advocating for women who have been victims of violence, and caring for homeless and disadvantaged families – all areas which have become even more urgent since the outbreak of the pandemic. The foundation has expanded its services since the outbreak and has received donations from individuals, institutions, NGOs, politicians and companies like Advent. The donations will help give infected people a better standard of care and provide basic needs for the most vulnerable families.

Advent is also working with the management of portfolio company Vitaldent – a leading dental services provider in Spain – on further initiatives, with financial support from the Relief Fund.

Urgent food supplies for those most in need

Our Peruvian team has committed to two charities to help alleviate the basic needs of those suffering extreme poverty and to ensure brave hospital staff have the protection they require.

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PPE packs for frontline workers

The economic impact of the Covid-19 crisis has plunged those on the margins in Peru into an even more desperate situation. Banco de Alimentos del Peru is an established Peruvian foodbank and part of the Global Foodbanking Network. It helps take surplus food from shops, markets and individuals and distribute it to those most in need. During the crisis, it continues to play a critical role in meeting the basic needs of struggling families. The Advent donation will provide food and hygiene packs for 30,000 families for a month.

Founded in 2011, Fundación OLI, is a Peruvian organization that channels capital and resources to charity organisations involved in health, culture, education, the environment and poverty reduction. At this time of acute need for personal protection for the brave healthcare workers fighting on the frontline, the charity is coordinating efforts to ensure that the right kit gets to where it is needed. The Advent commitment will provide PPE packs for 1,000 staff in public hospitals across Peru.

Providing relief for children in difficult times

Advent France is supporting five organizations which are either performing vital work to help those affected by the outbreak or are in critical need of support to be able to continue their charitable mission.

Vital organizations receiving support

Hôpital Necker des Enfants Malades is the city’s premier hospital for children. While Covid-19 only impacts a small percentage of children, this percentage still amounts to many cases in the greater Paris region. Our funding will help the hospital buy the specialized medical equipment it urgently needs to treat children affected by Covid-19.

#changeladonne is a charity aggregator which is directly supporting six prominent frontline relief organizations, including public hospitals, emergency research missions and psychological support for emotionally distressed citizens.

Les Rênes de la Vie is a leading hypotherapy organization for disabled children. It has provided essential treatment and education to hundreds of disabled children every year since 1982. Due to Covid-19, its financial existence is at risk, and our funding will help ensure that it will be ready to re-open as soon as confinement restrictions are lifted.

Café Joyeux are coffee shops where the coffee is manufactured, brewed and served by mentally challenged employees. Café Joyeux is the core initiative of Emeraude Solidaire, an endowment fund that was founded in 2010 by serial entrepreneurs Lydwine & Yann Bucaille. Our funding will ensure that rent expenses can be met and the continued employment the workforce will be secure.

Lazare is a charity with an innovative approach to helping homeless people achieve a more stable life. The concept is to have an equal number of former homeless people and young active professionals move into a house that has been renovated by the charity and live together as a family for many months. The founder of the charity has lived in such a co-living community with his own wife and kids for four years. Our funding will help the charity meet increased food expenses during a period when the tenants are less able to contribute to co-living expenses.

Frankfurt team sponsors raft of Covid-19 relief efforts

Advent office pledges support to high-impact projects in Germany and around the world.

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Charities backed in Frankfurt

The Advent team in Frankfurt is supporting a range of organizations to help people severly impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic. After a comprehensive deliberation process, the Frankfurt Team has carefully selected a set of local, national and international initiatives and projects which are providing relief in the midst of the crisis.

Ärzte ohne Grenzen is an international humanitarian organization that provides medical assistance to areas facing conflicts, epidemics or disasters. The organization has been at the forefront of healthcare services in less developed nations dealing with the impact of Covid-19. The donation will go towards helping Covid-19 relief initiatives in countries such as Iraq, India, Brazil, Italy and Greece.

Deutscher Kinderhospizverein supports young people and their families through the trauma of terminal illness. As well as advocating the rights of terminally ill children and young adults, the charity provides practical support in the form of hospices, education and supervised vacations. The Advent donation will help the regional Frankfurt chapter to open a new centre for families in the neighbouring town of Bad Homburg.

Kindernothilfe is a German organization that supports children and families in developing countries around the world who are suffering from the wider societal impact of Covid-19 including domestic violence and food poverty. The Advent donation will support a range of international initiatives.

Die Arche helps children and families in need to improve their living conditions. The offer comprises free educational support, lunch, home-schooling and outdoor activities. Due to the Covid-19 restrictions effective in most German cities, die Arche had to temporarily close their facilities. Advent’s support has enabled die Arche to continue its (remote-) support and care offering, deliver food packages to over 400 families as well as to provide IT equipment for home-schooling activities.

Aktion Deutschland Hilft is an association of 23 German aid organizations, active in more than 100 countries worldwide. It is geared towards providing fast relief when a major catastrophe is declared, such as the current Covid-19 pandemic. Advent’s support will be used to deliver medical assistance to individuals in need without health insurance in Germany.

The Goethe-Corona-Fund was established by the Goethe University and the University Hospital Frankfurt in March 2020. The donation will help to provide equipment and training for intensive care units, to fund critical virology research and develop urgently needed expertise in Covid-19 patient care.

Zentrale Informationsstelle Autonomer Frauenhäuser (“ZIF”) was founded in 1980 to coordinate the work of autonomous women’s shelters across Germany. During the pandemic, the incidence of domestic violence has increased, making ZIF’s work even more crucial. Our donation will support the development of a web-based portal that enables women to quickly see where there is capacity in their local region or in the entire country to immediately seek a shelter for themselves (and their children).

Deutsche Depressionshilfe offers psychological assistance for people with depression – many of whom are unable to consult therapists during the coronavirus shutdown. Its online program already provides more than 12,000 patients with help and guidance, and Advent’s support has enabled the charity to recruit an interim project coordinator.

Operating internationally, The Brooke is committed to the welfare of working animals and the communities that depend on them. Via the donations, Advent’s Frankfurt team assists emergency work in India and Ethiopia, where brick-kiln workers and their horses have been left destitute by the Covid-19 crisis.

Strassenengel Hanau is an important initiative for homeless people, providing them with food, hygiene products and medical care, and helping them re-establish lives in the community. Its outreach work is a vital lifeline during the pandemic, while many facilities aimed at those on the streets are temporarily unavailable.

Advent is providing support to an additional twelve organizations and initiatives. They are Teestube Jona, a facility for homeless people; Sanktionsfrei, providing one-off financial support for families in need; Aktion “Wir Gegen Corona”, a neighbourhood initiative against Covid-19; Humane Society International, a global animal welfare organization; Tiertafel Berlin, offering aid for deprived families and their pets in Berlin/Germany; Opel Zoo, in nearby Kronberg im Taunus, Germany; Papageno Musiktheater, a local theatre that produces shows for children; Initiative Musik, a fund that supports musicians who cannot perform due to Covid-19; FeM Mädchenhaus, advice centres and safe houses for vulnerable women; German Doctors, healthcare and medical trainings by volunteer doctors; Perspektiven e.V., an advice centre for mentally ill, addicted and physically impaired parents and their children; and NePals e.V., a charity providing food parcels to mountain villages in Nepal.

Advent teams up with Indian portfolio partners against Covid-19

Relief Fund pledges support to social initiatives and emergency programs driven by local companies.

Cooked meals provided nationwide

Advent has committed funds to a wide range of relief programs in India – both directly and through our portfolio companies.

A portion of the funds have been earmarked for organizations that provide economic aid and healthcare support for those affected by the outbreak. Both are critical in a nation where 80% of the workforce are casual workers on a daily wage, and where many medical workers still lack the appropriate protective gear.

The remainder of the budget has been allocated to Advent portfolio companies for their own initiatives. Prioritizing these was a deliberate decision in order to support the employees of our portfolio companies and their home communities. It enables funds to be distributed effectively at a very local level by leveraging our companies’ infrastructure and contacts in the communities in which they operate. Further detail can be found in the portfolio section of this website.

Charity Initiatives

Four organizations were selected to receive direct funding – including food charity Akshaya Patra. The organization is providing Covid-19 relief on a nationwide scale, supporting the needy with 10 million cooked meals and 500,000 grocery kits.

A further donation was allocated to the Delhi-based NGO Seeds India, which is running Covid relief efforts in ten states across India. The charity is distributing dry rations and hygiene kits and providing direct financial support for casual workers.

Purplle, an online cosmetics retailer, is receiving Advent funds to support the manufacture of protective masks, PPE kits and hand sanitizers for frontline workers. The company has partnered with leading Indian NGOs for last-mile delivery of the supplies to those who need them.

Arpan, India’s largest NGO dealing with the problem of child sexual abuse, also receives a grant. Since the start of the pandemic, it has extended its free counselling services to provide advice and support for those affected by Covid-19, and has supported 750 families with ration kits.

Building a brand new hospital from scratch

Our Italian team, based in Milan, was hit early by the effects of the pandemic.

Extra hospital beds

They have chosen to support the city’s short-term healthcare needs with funding for the newly built Fiera hospital and the longer-term economic rebuilding of the region.

The Ospedale Fiera Di Milano is a brand new hospital in Milan that was built in response to the toll the pandemic has taken on the city’s healthcare workers and facilities. The project has seen a disused pavilion transformed into a pop-up hospital covering more than 25,000 square meters with 250 additional beds for the treatment of Coronavirus and related complications. The hospital will continue to serve the population of Milan after the pandemic has been contained.

The Mutual Aid Fund (Fondo mutuo soccorso Comune di Milano) was established by the mayor of Milan, Giuseppe Sala, to support the city and those in financial distress due to the spread of the Coronavirus. It is intended to help support the resurrection of the city economy with a particular focus on micro and small businesses. In its first phase, it will prioritise those made unemployed by the Covid-19 crisis such as fixed-term employees whose contracts have not been renewed, temporary workers, freelancers and others in vulnerable employment situations.

Backing healthcare heroes in Colombia

In Colombia, The Advent Global Relief Fund (AGRF) is prioritizing two fronts: the healthcare system response to the crisis, and vulnerable populations affected by the economic slowdown.

Low-income families supported by The Vulnerable Population Initiative

We are doing so by supporting two initiatives – one led by ProBogotá (a non-profit supported by large business that works to improve the city) and the other by the Mayor of Bogotá’s office.

The health initiative with ProBogotá, aims to raise $7.5 million – $8.5 million in crisis funding. This money will be used to add 150 ICU beds to the district health system (Bogotá has currently ~1,000 beds) and acquire approximately 25,000 testing kits.

The Vulnerable Population Initiative, led by the Mayor’s office, is raising funds locally and internationally to guarantee a minimum income for those impacted by the crisis. Around 350,000 low-income families will receive $100 a month, while a further 150,000 families at risk of falling into poverty will receive $45.

The AGRF decided to focus efforts on Bogotá, the epicenter of the Covid-19 crisis in Colombia, and selected the initiatives for their impact, credibility and openness.