Along with three other organisations, Nationwide Building Society has achieved Business in the Community’s (BITC) CommunityMark.
The CommunityMark standard looks beyond philanthropy to acknowledge the varied ways that companies of all sizes and across all sectors are investing in their communities through corporate giving and fundraising, pro bono and employee volunteering time, in-kind support and commercial initiatives. The CommunityMark was first launched in 2008 and is endorsed by HRH The Prince of Wales. In four years, 45 organisations have achieved the standard to become exemplars of community investment.
Four years on from members voting for Nationwide to give 1% of pre-tax profits to community and charitable causes, the building society has contributed the following through its community investment programme:
– £3.7million distributed through the Nationwide Foundation over three years (2009-12)
– Supported the recruitment and training of 1,477 volunteers to promote and deliver financial education training sessions to over 152,000 people through the MoneyActive programme with Citizens Advice
– Provided life skills for thousands of young people through NationwideEducation.co.uk including our impartial and award winning First Time Buyers guide
– Developed a BTEC Money and Finance Skills qualification with Edexcel which has already reached 2,588 14-19 year olds
– Projects with Shelter, the housing and homelessness charity, have helped 377 families, 561 adults and 323 young people since 2010
– Launched the employee volunteering programme giving all eligible employees two days per annum to support their local communities
– Employees and members raised a massive £1 million for good causes in 2010
Collectively, the new achievers of the CommunityMark have invested £13,571,077 in their communities. They have encouraged their employees to volunteer their time amounting to £649,611, supported over 24,000 young people across 47 schools and worked in partnership with 35 community organisations.
Some of Nationwide’s community investment programmes include:
– MoneyActive, a three year £3 million Citizens Advice programme designed to help educate people to better manage their finances. Against a target of 1,300 volunteers to recruit and train and reaching 100,000 people, we have already achieved 1,477 recruits and reached 152,000 people.
– Working with Shelter, the housing and homelessness charity, we fund programmes to support people facing a range of housing problems. In Bristol alone, after two years we have helped 377 families, 561 adults and 323 children through support services for homeless families making the transition into a settled home and community
– To improve knowledge and understanding we have developed a range of impartial housing guides including an award winning First Time Buyers guide which enables people to make informed choices when making decisions about their housing needs. Since June 2010 over 35,000 copies of the guide have been downloaded
– An employee volunteering programme giving all employees up to two days paid leave per calendar year to volunteer in local communities. Since launching a new volunteering platform programme with LeapCR, over 25% of employees have activated their registration and are now looking for volunteering opportunities.
Graeme Hughes, Nationwide’s HR & Corporate Affairs Director said: “This really is fantastic recognition for our community investments programme where we take a proactive and preventative approach to dealing with social issues including financial education and homelessness. Working in collaboration with our long term partners including Citizens Advice and Shelter, we are increasing knowledge levels, support and accessibility through our range of programmes. Achieving the CommunityMark is a great achievement for us and is testament to all the hard work our employees and partners have put in over the years”
Stephen Howard, Chief Executive of Business in the Community said:
“CommunityMark companies demonstrate an impressive commitment to identifying and responding to the social needs of their communities and supporting those most at risk. There are so many ways in which business can help create vibrant and prosperous communities and CommunityMark companies understand that excellence in community investment not only has a positive and valuable impact on society, but that it also translates to real business benefits.
“By focussing on social issues such as education, crime, unemployment and financial capability and by nurturing enterprise and helping to build a skilled future workforce, our newest achievers are helping to improve their local communities and build invaluable partnerships that support the local economy and businesses.”
Nationwide Building Society employs around 15,000 people in various admin centres and branches across the UK.
Source : Nationwide Building Society
