Our employees can – and do – play a huge role in supporting their local communities. We encourage our people to take part in our programmes, and also support them in their own volunteering, fundraising and regular giving.
In 2011, 73,000 colleagues supported community activities, representing 47% of our total workforce.
We actively encourage our colleagues to use their skills during volunteering activities because feedback has shown that, as well as having the biggest impact on communities, it also has significant benefits for the employees themselves. By experiencing different challenges and adapting their skills to meet them, colleagues enhance their own skills in a way that can benefit their performance at work.
| Barclays colleagues supporting their local communities |
|---|
Colleagues were supported in the following activities:
- Volunteering – almost 46,000 employees contributed a total of 418,000 hours to volunteering, an increase of 16% on the previous year.
- Matched fundraising – £24m was raised through our matched fundraising programme, with over 21,000 employees taking part in fundraising events.
- Giving – 15,000 employees were involved in regular payroll giving throughout the year, donating over £4.0m to charities (including Barclays matching).
Employee volunteering, giving and fundraising
|
|
2011 |
2010 |
2009 |
|
Total amount raised through fundraising and giving: |
£28.2m |
£21.4m |
£19.6m |
|
Total number of events receiving matched fundraising: |
17,167 |
12,805 |
11,844 |
|
Total hours to support volunteering activities: |
418,000 |
359,000 |
267,000 |
We take part in the CSV Make a Difference Day campaign every year, encouraging employees worldwide to give their time to support their local communities. In 2011, 20,620 colleagues from 32 countries took part. From new graduates to Marcus Agius, our Chairman, and Bob Diamond, our Chief Executive, colleagues at all levels gathered to make a real difference to disadvantaged people in their communities.
In addition, the Barclays Citizenship Awards recognise those who have made an outstanding contribution to their communities. The Awards, which are presented by Marcus Agius, recognise and celebrate employees’ activities to support their communities.
Assurance observation
Barclays Community Investment programme has been revised in 2011 to align more closely with the citizenship priorities. However, Barclays still faces challenges in obtaining complete employee participation data because electronic reporting of this information is only available in certain parts of the business. Barclays could consider extending this method of information gathering across the business to help capture more complete and consistent reporting of this data.
