community
As a global media company with a growing number of offices around
the world, we still need to understand the impact we have on
our local neighbourhoods and remember how important it is to
'enrich local life' whenever we have the opportunity.
Many of our staff are already involved in activities which
directly give back to the communities around them. Some contribute
individually by offering their time to volunteer in the local
community, or by donating via Payroll Giving to a favourite
charity.
VOLUNTEERING
Our staff also volunteer by taking part in Team Challenges which
normally involve a half-day out of the office in their teams
(e.g. assisting a local charity or school). A wide range of Team
Challenge opportunities are available and range from conservation
projects with the National Trust, to gardening and painting at
local charities or schools.
In the US, our New York office has been a
regular participants in initiatives to provide food and
clothes to those in need and in Australia, our
team donates blood every 12 weeks to the Australian Red Cross Blood
Service.
In London, we have been working closely with
the Jack Tizard School, a day school for
pupils aged 2-19 years with a range of severe learning difficulties
including profound and multiple learning difficulties (PMLD).
Staff
volunteers visit the school at lunch-times every week and help
out by playing with the kids and lending a hand to the teaching
staff. The short induction programme helps prepare volunteers to
understand how the children communicate and covers issues from how
to manage challenging behaviour to the importance of play. Our
volunteers have also had the opportunity to learn some basic sign
language.
The school's headteacher, Cathy Welsh, has been very
appreciative of our volunteers: "They have been brilliant -
they are really enthusiastic and great with the kids. It good for
the children to meet new people and they really look forward to the
BBC people coming."
We are also developing an outreach scheme with the London
Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham to offer special 'Enterprise
Days' for local secondary schools. The aim is to inspire children
to understand business, feel confident to put forward ideas and
make decisions and be encouraged to achieve their full
potential.
Payroll giving
Payroll Giving enables employees to support a
registered charity of their choice with a regular donation
direct from their pay which is tax-free. Donating in this way
maximises income and helps charities budget and plan ahead more
effectively. Along with the BBC we have been granted the Gold
Standard for Payroll Giving.