community
Ecclesiastical staff supporting the local community
The aim is to support the communities where we operate by giving something back and acting as a responsible neighbour.
Our community support policy is a key part of our brand identity, supporting our vision and mission and demonstrating our values. Our community involvement focuses around organisations that share our values in core business areas.
Corporate Sponsorship
We currently have a three-year partnership with The Children’s Society (TCS) who have a similar heritage to us, strongly linked to the Church of England. As part of our partnership we are sponsoring them to raise awareness of our brand and gain access to potential new customers. Our support helps The Children’s Society continue providing vital help and support for those children who need it the most.
We have been headline sponsor for Walk and Explore, The Children’s Society’s series of fundraising walking adventures, and sponsored their garden at The Chelsea Flower Show in 2007. We are sponsoring a micro site asking the public to carry out actions, which will help make childhood better in their communities. We want to actively promote that people can make a positive difference, and it isn’t just in the hands of the professionals or the government.
Staff have the opportunity to take part in fundraising and volunteering activities. These have included cycling from London to Amsterdam, the Three Peaks Challenge, gardening, decorating and listening to children read at a special school.
Support for local charities
Our community support policy is about giving something back to local independent charities and community organisations, rather than national ones. This tends to centre on Gloucester where most staff live and work. Principal London Office and Regional Centres (RC’s) are encouraged to take part by adopting their own local charities.
The policy sets out the nomination process and criteria for selecting local organisations to support. Our community support will:
focus on local independent charities and community organisations that contribute and share in our values and related core areas of business
be employee led – charities and community organisations to be supported will, wherever possible, have been nominated and chosen by Ecclesiastical staff
add real and meaningful benefit to the charities and community organisations by working in partnership and offering support in a variety of ways:
During 2010 we are pleased to be supporting:
employee fundraising
company charitable giving/matching
offering the resources of staff to provide professional advice/expertise
providing volunteers to work on specific projects
Community initiatives
As well as supporting national and local charities, we will also participate in activities in the Gloucestershire community where we can be a responsible neighbour and corporate citizen. Any such activities must meet the following criteria:
focus on enriching the lives of people who live and work in Gloucester city and demonstrate Ecclesiastical is a responsible neighbour and corporate citizen. They enable us to share our expertise and contribute in areas where we can make a difference or add value
fit with our brand and values. They will support at least one of the areas where we operate, i.e. Faith, Charity, Care, Education and Heritage or cover an issue where we have expertise, for example financial literacy
timescale – the activity should have some longevity, either from the activity itself or from its impact. As a general rule we do not support one-off events
provide an opportunity for internal and/or external publicity, raising awareness of our name.
To give our community activities a clear focus, we will not support:
any activity affiliated to a political party arts-related activities, e.g. theatre, arts festivals
activities that do not directly enrich people’s lives.
Community programmes
We seek to establish partnerships with organisations to help benefit the community that we operate within.
We have joined Business in the Community (BITC) an independent membership charity, whose purpose is ‘to create a public benefit’. Endorsed by HRH Prince Charles, BITC inspire businesses to improve positive impact of business in society. They aim to inspire, engage, support and challenge companies on responsible business, working through four areas: Community, Environment, Marketplace and Workplace.
BITC have more than 850 companies in membership, which represents 1 in 5 of the UK private sector workforce and a network of global partners.
In early 2009 we plan to run a ‘Seeing is Believing’ visit, the purpose of this project is to invite other Gloucestershire business leaders to experience first hand the problems faced within our local community. The objective is to realize the impact that shared resource could have on the area of ‘Employability’.
BITC encourage members to apply for The Community Mark award. Community Mark is a national standard that recognises companies that are the best investors in their communities. This mark will provide us with enhanced corporate reputation among peers, media, government and other stakeholders in the wider community.
Charitable status
In addition, Ecclesiastical is owned by the Allchurches Trust, a registered charity. Over the past six years Ecclesiastical has given £39m from its profits to the Allchurches Trust for them to distribute to the Church and charitable organisations.
