400 employees participate in the 2025 “E.G.G. Walkathon” charity walk, marking the eighth year of M&G’s unremitting philanthropic efforts in this regard

On May 10, 2025, in the morning light of Shanghai Qiantan Leisure Park, M&G participated in the “E.G.G. Walkathon” charity walk for the eighth year. Driven by the corporate culture of “Everyone for Charity” and the personal engagement of senior management, this year’s participation reached a record high with over 400 M&G employees.

The “E.G.G. Walkathon” charity walk is a charity program initiated by Shanghai United Foundation, dedicated to the healthy growth and equal development of children aged 0-18. Participants raise funds for children by taking on a 12-hour, 50-kilometer hiking challenge. As a philanthropic partner of this program, M&G Foundation organized employees to participate in the hiking challenge to raise funds for its “Art Education Plan”.

At 7:00 a.m., Chen Huxiong, President of M&G, was invited to fire a salute to kick off the event. The shower of fireworks signaled the official kickoff of this journey. 54 senior staff and other employees were organized into 40 teams to embark on this philanthropic journey together.

The 50-kilometer circular hiking route started from Qiantan Leisure Park, passed through the Expo Celebration Square near Mercedes-Benz Arena, Museum of Art Pudong, Kerry Parkside Pudong, Zhangjiang Traditional Chinese Medicine Culture Park, Pudong Urban Planning and Public Art Center, and finally returned to the starting point, connecting the urban pulse of Shanghai with the philanthropic enthusiasm of M&G employees.

In this event, 166 hikers from M&G and Colipu, along with 124 relay runners, completed the charity marathon. The hike was not only about philanthropic purposes, but also about pushing physical and mental limits and rediscovering oneself. A first-timer completed a 22-kilometer hike in five hours, while others completed 50 kilometers, encouraging and supporting each other with their teammates.

In addition to the passion of the hikers, a group of volunteers were also there to provide support. 71 M&G volunteers provided reliable support for the hikers, setting up water stations along the 50-kilometer loop for passing hikers to replenish supplies.

At the checkpoint between 20km and 30km, M&G Foundation set up a volunteer service point. At the service point, not only medicines and supplies were available, three paintings of rural children were also brought to the site to create a miniature “Rural Art Exhibition”, in the hope of raising more donations for the “Art Education Plan” and providing a place for rural children to display their art works.

Since its establishment, M&G Foundation has organized a string of philanthropic activities within the company, fostering a corporate culture of “Everyone for Charity” through leadership initiatives, volunteer service points for employees, a reward system, etc. All proceeds raised from the hike will be used for M&G Foundation’s “Art Education Plan”.

M&G Foundation’s “Art Education Plan” program was launched in 2020. Focusing on modules such as teacher resource alignment, art lesson plan development, community-based art classes, and art works showcasing, the program is dedicated to building an industry ecosystem for rural children’s art education, promoting rural revitalization and improving students’ art quality. As of the end of 2024, the program had been implemented in 1,076 rural schools and 36 community child service centers, generating a total of one million instances of benefit. It received the “Charity Case of 2024” award from Southern Weekly.