Community

Our activities as a firm have an impact on our communities. We are committed to not only managing that impact but also using the resources we have in making a real and sustainable difference. We understand that the amount of talent and energy we have can make a real difference in helping to create the kind of society we all want to live in. 

We have established a network of over 20 champions throughout the UK. Their role is to communicate our national programmes, stimulate local ideas and initiatives and determine what’s going to work best for their group. It’s not a ‘one size fits all’ approach.

In October 2006 we introduced our community volunteering policy that allows employees 6 days a year to use flexibly for volunteering. Our approach is deliberately open so individuals are free to choose the focus of their voluntary work whether it be environmental responsibility or charity fundraising. In the first year after the policies introduction we had over 7% employee uptake. In the financial year 07/08 14% of our employees used the policy. Click here for some of the projects with which employees have chosen to be involved.

We are constantly looking for new ways to engage our people and in 2007 a project working with school children came about through our involvement with the Social Change movement We Are What We Do. Click here for more information. This project led us to begin developing a strategic focus of Education for some of our volunteering activities. Click here to find out more about our pilot Educational Volunteering programme.

We also have a scheme of matched fund-raising whereby funds raised by employees for charitable causes are matched by the firm. Beneficiaries have included local schools and charities eg. Oxfam and Cancer Research. In the financial year 07/08 over £53,000 of employees fundraising was matched by the firm. Payroll giving also enables employees to make tax-free donations to charities of their choice directly form their salary. We give £10 to one of 3 charities for every employee who answers our annual employee survey.

We are members of Business in the Community, an independent business-led charity involving over 700 of the UK’s top companies, committed to improving the positive impact organisations like ours can have on society.

The firm has also demonstrated its commitment to supporting Fairtrade by only using Fairtrade tea, coffee and sugar in all of our meeting rooms and staff facilities.