Volunteering
Our employees have a wide range of different skills, which they use to make a valuable contribution to the communities in which we operate.
Our employee volunteering programme aims to encourage as many people as possible to get involved with local community projects. As well as being a highly rewarding experience for the people involved, by offering staff time off work to help in the community we can build sustainable relationships with local charities and community organisations.
Last year, over 2,220 employees volunteered their time to take part in projects in the community, equivalent to 18% of our employees. The volunteering opportunities included over 120 ‘team challenges’, which benefit local communities and offer our employees team-building opportunities. Our team challenge programme is run in partnership with Community Service Volunteers (CSV), the UK's largest volunteering and training organisation.
Our skills-based volunteering programme directly supports the personal development of our people. Skills developed include accountancy, presentation and interview skills, as well as basic literacy and numeracy.
Supporting our key community programmes
In 2011, many of our employees volunteered their time to support our key community programmes.
- Over 140 employees volunteered at our Climate Cop Academies, which are designed to show young people how they can take the lead and set a greener example, at school and at home;
- 117 employees supported our Football League community programme, which aims to get more young people involved in sport;
- 116 employees volunteered for our charity partner, Macmillan Cancer Support, by offering practical assistance to people affected by cancer and carrying out collections at supermarkets close to our sites;
- Around 90 of our contact centre employees based in Burton put in an extra shift for Children in Need to take phone donations;
- Over 70 of our engineering employees volunteered as part of the npower enthuse programme, which engages young people in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, helping them to experience a day in the life of a scientist and engineer through interactive challenges.
Feedback from our team challenges has been very positive:
- 98% of team leaders found the day to be an effective team-building exercise
- 83% of volunteers felt more positive about the company
- 96% of team members felt they had made a difference
- 74% of team leaders said they’d feel more motivated at work
