Supporting the communities in which we work
Aim: to support the communities in which we operate. As a responsible
business we engage with our local communities, allowing us to maximise the benefits
and understand and manage any negative impacts of our business operations.
Progress: We use the London Benchmarking Group (LBG) methodology
to capture and value as much of our community investment data as possible. However,
with such a diverse and constantly growing business the extent of data capture is
limited. In 2009, we estimate that our total community investment was £1.4m
(2008: £1.2m).
Community investment
Our community investment programme aims to tackle exclusion of all kinds. We donate
our time, skills and money to local community initiatives, supporting projects that
directly benefit the communities in which we work.
In 2009, we reviewed our community investment programme, streamlining our approach
to align with our CR and business strategy and allowing us to direct our efforts
more effectively. We introduced a framework basing our activities around 3 themes;
education, social exclusion and health. Our programme is applied at 2 levels; through
initiatives led by the Group or individual businesses. The Group funds and organises
a central volunteering programme facilitating volunteering that is appropriate to
each local community’s needs.
We also support the development of young people in our local communities by being
involved in projects such as the Work Inspiration campaign and Backing Young Britain.
Charitable support
We support the efforts of our employees in raising funds for numerous charities
by providing a central payroll giving service, a matched funding scheme and promotion
of their initiatives across the Group via our employee intranet. In 2009, our corporate
donations totalled £0.5m.
We support one Group charity partner to benefit from Group-wide fundraising activities.
In 2008, our employees chose to support Macmillan Cancer Support. In 2009, our employees
raised £440,000 for Macmillan, taking our total to £800,000 towards
our target of raising £1 million. We helped to generate a further £152,000
for Macmillan through fully sponsoring the charity’s Winter Ball.
Our people’s efforts are recognised and celebrated through our employee recognition
awards, which include an award for charitable support and community engagement.