28 March 2008
Charity WLTM successful business professional to share
experience for fulfilling lasting relationship
City Action matchmakes City firms wishing to volunteer with
charities and community projects in City Fringe boroughs
The City of London Corporation’s City Action, a matchmaking
service for City firms and SMEs that wish to volunteer with
community organisations in the City fringe boroughs, has launched
an online database to set up more long term, satisfying
relationships which fulfill the needs of both parties.
The website – www.city-action.org – hosts a virtual
matchmaking/dating site for private/third sector relationships. It
provides online opportunities for community organisations and
charities to advertise and provide information on the specific
skills and services which they require from corporate partners. An
RSS feed function also gives live updates of new volunteering
opportunities – the very latest ‘singles’ on the market.
The scheme encourages City firms and SMEs to volunteer their
professional expertise, skills and knowledge; example volunteering
initiatives include recruitment professionals providing careers
advice to students, lawyers offering legal seminars to community
groups and IT experts offering basic computer training for lone
parents. City Action works closely with both parties to establish
long-term, structured volunteering programmes that will provide
valuable, lasting benefits and meaningful, self-sufficient
partnerships.
Funded by the City of London Corporation, City Action
facilitates meetings between volunteering firms and their chosen
community group or charity and provides guidelines relating to
their volunteering activity. In such cross-sectoral projects,
miscommunication and conflicting agendas or timeframes are not
infrequent – particularly at the outset. City Action works as an
intermediary liaison service. Each volunteering match is followed
up with an evaluation, which is of particular use to CSR and HR
departments, to look at the impact to the individual and which
workplace skills were developed or put into practice during
volunteering – and see how the relationship is progressing as a
whole.
City Action has been running for 10 years since 1998 and is the
only free brokerage service of its kind which, in the last year
alone, has linked 45 active corporate partners with not-for-profit
and community organisations, charities and schools in the seven
City fringe boroughs. In the last five years, businesses have sent
over 5,000 volunteers to community groups due to City Action’s
matchmaking abilities. Their clients include Credit Suisse,
Barclays Bank plc, PRUPIM, Rothschild, Royal & SunAlliance and
State Street as well as SMEs throughout the Square Mile.
Example volunteering initiatives undertaken through City Action
include:
- State Street professionals supporting numeracy initiatives at
St Luke's Primary School in Tower Hamlets and one employee taking
on the role of a School Governor.
- ABN AMRO HR recruitment professionals providing employability
and interview days careers advice to students from Central
Foundation Girls School.
- Standard Chartered Bank plc IT professionals developing and
redesigning a website for Karibu Centre.
Carolyn Housman, Corporate Responsibility Manager for the City
of London Corporation, says “City Action has experienced an influx
of interest from businesses that are increasingly keen to encourage
‘directed’ volunteering which utilizes the existing hard or soft
skills of staff, rather than untargeted away days or team building
exercises. In light of that, City Action provides tailored advice
to make a good ‘match’ between the needs of a community
organization or charity, and the skills and services available from
a particular firm. As well as the social, physical and economic
regeneration of local communities, companies involved have found
that benefits such as the strengthening of company values, exposure
to a wider business network and new, innovative product ideas offer
a great return for a simple sharing of existing skills and
resources.”
According to a survey by City Action, volunteering is now
expected of modern companies, with employee volunteering
initiatives as a key way of engaging staff. The survey shows that
companies are also motivated by the desire to promote their company
values, raise the company profile, provide training opportunities
for staff and give a good impression to both existing and potential
clients. They also state that involvement with community
organisations improves staff morale as well as positively
contributing to recruitment intiatives.
Ends
For further information, case studies or quotes, please contact
Rain UK - Rosalind Jeffcoat or Louise Ambridge on Tel 00 44 (0)20
7222 4345 or email
rosalind.jeffcoat@raincommunications.co.uk
Notes:
Established in 1998 by the City of London, City Action acts as a
free volunteering broker to facilitate the transfer of time, skills
and resources between City firms and community-based organisations
in the City and the seven surrounding boroughs: Camden, Hackney,
Islington, Lambeth, Southwark, Tower Hamlets and Westminster.
Engaging firms in practical activities enables them to contribute
to the social and economic regeneration of these boroughs. City
Action aims to put business at the heart of the community. See more
on www.city-action.org.
The City of London Corporation is the “business authority for
the business district” and supports the international financial
services industry based in the UK, with its heart in the Square
Mile. It provides local authority services for the Square Mile but
also works across wider London and UK.