A Global Leap Of Faith

IMAGINE a time four years from now when the world’s charities are fed thanks to a single wave of cash generated over a 24-hour spell. Where companies across the planet unite in a jaw-dropping initiative to hand over their net profit from a single day’s trading to the benefactor of their choice. A day when major conglomerates through to sole traders make a leap of faith. In 1984, Bob Geldorf and Midge Ure came up with the inspiring lyric Feed the World. Now, thanks to a man named Paul Heath (1Freeday.org), the next leap year, specifically 29 February 2016, is being targeted for the mother of all worldwide donations. It will be time to feed the world’s charities.

Paul, an employee with a major company in the UK and associate of Naked Leader founder David Taylor, explains: ‘Every four years we gain an extra “leap” day. For a growing number of people it is an extra day that they neither want nor need. An added day of no food or water, or medicine, or an extra day’s worth of beatings and punishment. In contrast, this “free” day provides companies with an opportunity to earn additional revenue that they will not have budgeted for. So all companies around the world are invited to donate the “free” net profit generated from trading on 29 February 2016 to a charity, or charities, of their choice.’

Paul’s brainwave was born from a time when he worked in Barrow and was dismayed to see bucket collections for various charities being undertaken outside the cafe where he invariably went to lunch. ‘With the recession hitting, I couldn’t see how they could expect people there to hand over money in such a way,’ he adds. ‘I thought there must be a better way. I came up with this idea and spoke to a few people about it although nobody commented much on it. Then I spoke to David who had got involved with the company I work for. I was speaking to him about one of his books and he was explaining the concept of The Naked Millionaire. He told me that the first thing anyone needed was a big idea. I told him I already had one of those.’
David’s initial interest helped Paul take action.

‘David was the catalyst for making it happen,’ he enthuses. ‘I knew I was on to something by his reaction. He was speechless. When he finally got to grips with it he told me that most people’s big idea is to the change the culture of a company or restructure it. He said my plan could affect every company in the world.’

The initiative will allow companies, and their staff, to have an input into where they want the money to go. It opens up a whole new communication opportunity between business owners and their staff. It is an exciting prospect. ‘Who better to choose where the money should go than the people who work in that organisation? I would love for them to have a say and will encourage that,’ Paul reflects.

The irony is that there will be no financial reward for Paul – money was never his motivation. ‘I’m not in it for money, all I want is to get the message out there,’ he continues. ‘I can’t remember where the leap bit came in, it was a case of saying to myself that I’ve got the idea, all I want now is to tell people about it. I believe that this is the way charity should be supported. I know there are companies with the ability and the capability to make it work. I felt my job was to share it with as many people as possible.

‘Because the Naked Leader is held in such high regard, and given the integrity of the company, I couldn’t wish for a better platform from which to launch the message. The Naked Leader brand means that people will sit up and pay attention. David has become my business mentor. Without him it would never have developed from an idea to reality and gained any momentum.

‘It’s out on Twitter, Facebook and there’s a website. It’s a case of drip-feeding the information and wait to see what happens.

‘At first, other people didn’t respond. David showed an interest and I’m very thankful for that. It makes me incredibly proud to think that someone believes there is potential to get value out of it, and, as a result, you can see more people/companies coming on board.’

Has your company registered yet? What’s stopping you? Don’t miss out on a global phenomenon. (To find out more, and to register, please visit www.1freeday.org)