Medicash has protected 234,000 trees in the Peruvian Amazon on behalf of its corporate policyholders in a joint celebration of the organisation’s 150th anniversary and Earth Day 2021.

Over its long history, Medicash has been dedicated to supporting innovative charitable projects with a focus on health and wellbeing. With the pandemic putting a stop to traditional anniversary celebrations, Medicash has instead recognised that the most effective way to ensure the health of the population going forward is to protect one of our best natural resources – the rainforest.

Cool Earth is a charity that works alongside rainforest communities to halt deforestation and its impact on climate change. Since 2009, Medicash has partnered with Cool Earth to work with communities who want to protect their forest, helping support local people in a global challenge.

Why is the rainforest so important?

  • The rainforest is Earth’s largest medicine cabinet, with around 25% of all pharmaceutical drugs used today being derived from rainforest plants
  • Medicash has helped Cool Earth to protect over 78,000 hectares of the Amazon rainforest, the equivalent to over 100,000 football pitches
  • More than 20% of the world’s oxygen is produced in the Amazon Rainforest
  • Deforestation releases as much carbon into the atmosphere as the entire global transport sector combined and destroys the best natural carbon capture and storage technology we have
  • By protecting the rainforest, we are taking an effective action towards tackling climate breakdown, reducing emissions and improving the health of our planet

By pledging to protect one tree for each employee covered by a corporate policy, Medicash has saved 234,000 rainforest trees in Asháninka, Peru from the threat of deforestation.

In doing so, over 1.43 million tonnes of CO2 has been saved – the equivalent of 287,000 car trips around the world, or the total output of 177,000 homes per year.

For more information on the Medicash and Cool Earth partnership, visit: https://medicash.org/about-us/cool-earth/

Medicash 150-year history

Medicash was established in 1871 to provide financial support to the voluntary hospitals of Victorian Liverpool. The health cash plan provider has been known by many names over its 150-year history including The Penny in the Pound Fund and Merseyside Health Benefits Council, before changing its name to Medicash as it expanded its regional focus to a national one.

In 2018 Medicash was awarded the Freedom of the City of Liverpool for its longstanding commitment to charitable giving and contribution to healthcare.

Sue Weir, Chief Executive of Medicash said: “Medicash has been committed to supporting the health and wellbeing of individuals since its foundation in 1871. We are proud to work with organisations from across the UK to support and improve the health of their employees and look forward to doing so for many decades and even centuries to come.

“Marking 150 years in business is no mean feat and I would like to acknowledge the hard work of all the team at Medicash, both current and past, who have made this possible. Our anniversary year will provide a great opportunity for us to reflect and celebrate our past, at the same time as looking forward to driving the next innovations on our journey.”

Click here to view the Medicash anniversary timeline for a more detailed overview of the past 150 years and significant highlights throughout our history.