Touch ‘n Go Group today announced its long-term collaboration with United Voice, starting with the purchase of paintings from United Voice artists and incorporating the artwork on limited edition specially designed Touch ‘n Go cards with the aim of profiling the talents of these artists while raising funds for United Voice.
Touch ‘n Go has purchased 10 paintings – 1 painting from each of 10 talented artists – which are featured on specially designed Touch ‘n Go cards. There are 4,000 pieces of each card design. The proceeds from the purchase of the paintings go directly to each artist whilst a portion of the proceeds from the sale of the cards will be channelled to United Voice for their daily operations as well as projects to drive new revenue and employment opportunities for their members, such as mobile coffee carts, sewing workshops, and entrepreneurship programmes.
Touch ‘n Go is hosting the art exhibition from today till October 5, to showcase paintings from the United Voice artists. Besides displaying the paintings which were purchased by Touch ‘n Go for the limited-edition cards, other paintings by the 10 artists are also on exhibition with selected artwork up for sale to the public. Proceeds from the sale of these paintings also go directly to the artists.
“The paintings selected for our specially designed cards celebrate the talents of the 10 United Voice artists who have various forms of learning challenges from a young age. Through the support of United Voice and those around them, these artists tell stories about what inspires them, and express their thoughts and emotions so beautifully through their artwork,” said Effendy Shahul Hamid, Group CEO of Touch ‘n Go Group.
Many of these artists have received awards for their art both locally and internationally, with their artwork sold to collectors from across the globe and many made their way into greeting cards, calendars, and hallways.
United Voice, set up in 2005, is Malaysia’s first non-governmental organisation (NGO) to be run by persons with learning disabilities. It champions self-advocacy to reduce the isolation of people with learning disabilities such as Down syndrome, autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and cerebral palsy, providing them with the tools, training, platforms, and experience to take control of their lives.
United Voice Treasurer, Johari Jamali said, “This collaboration highlights the talents of our artists to the public, giving the artists another avenue to profile themselves and their work to earn a meaningful livelihood independently. It also helps to raise awareness on United Voice, giving us the opportunity to enable more persons with learning disabilities to achieve their fullest potential.”
