IT Relief chairman calls for industry help

NEWS Packard Bell's UK MD, Graham Hopper has explained why he agreed to become chairman of this year's IT Relief charity effort - and urged the IT industry to help him raise £150,000 for UK charity, KIDS. Hopper, speaking in a video interview with Silicon.com, said it was IT Relief's decision to support KIDS - a UK charity which works with parents and carers to help children with special needs or disabilities - that persuaded him to get involved. He said: "As a company, we're focused on PCs into the home and have a focus on the family, initiatives for parents, etc, so it was logical that we should have an involvement on this." Hopper admitted that being involved in IT Relief will bring PR benefits to Packard Bell. "It's something you have to take into account. I think very few companies ... sit on a charitable budget and do things just to be charitable. They're always looking for a commercial aspect." But he said this "fact of life" can be an important bargaining tool in persuading other companies to support a charity effort. Hopper a self-confessed "veteran" of the IT industry, said he'll delve deep into his own contact book to try to get people to support the charity, while Packard Bell has agreed to provide telephone links and PCs to help the charity "start spreading the word a little bit more". But Hopper said the highlight of the fundraising drive will be the IT Relief Ball, to be held at the London Hilton on 8 October. "It's fundraising, it's for the charity, it's extremely high-profile and it's good for entertaining clients," he said. Hopper added that KIDS would also benefit from any equipment or expertise that firms are able to spare. "Obviously, we want as much as possible to be donated and it's very easy for people within the industry to give that". The interview with Graham Hopper can be viewed on the official IT Relief Web site, hosted by Silicon.com, at http://www.silicon.com/itrelief