More than 100 employees of Damas, the Middle East’s leading international jewellery and watch retailer, ran for a cause in the 2012 Standard Chartered Dubai Marathon, held in Downtown Dubai on January 27.
The charitable act was organised under the umbrella of Damas Cares, the corporate social responsibility division of the company, and, very much encouraged by the company, employees – who participated in the marathon distance, 10K and 3K Fun Run – were committed to seeing it through, no matter their level of running ability.
Carissa Crowley, an employee who completed the 10K in her personal best, said: “It was the first time we’ve done this. The company was very supportive. They provided us with transport to and from the venue, they encouraged and sponsored us to do this, and even organised a few training sessions for us beforehand, held at Jumeirah Lake Towers, where our offices are based. It was just a few nights where everyone was encouraged to go down and run together as a group.
“On the day, everyone was in their Damas outfits and just ran as a team. The people running were from a broad cross section, there was the manufacturing unit, senior management… a mixture of the whole company, and we’re a huge company, so it’s not very often we get to mix like this. It was brilliant.”
The money raised by Damas Cares was donated to Seeing is Believing, a Standard Chartered Bank global initiative geared towards tackling avoidable blindness by 2020; it funds projects through eye care organisations to develop eye care capacity and provide services for communities in need.
