13 May 2010
We must build on momentum in corporate volunteering, says Lord
Mayor
Action urged at Dragon Awards launch to cement volunteering in
mainstream corporate culture
Speaking today at the launch of this year’s Dragon Awards, Lord
Mayor of the City of London Nick Anstee revealed corporate
volunteering in the Square Mile has risen +24% in the last
financial year, and has more than doubled on 2007/08. Despite
this momentum, the Lord Mayor urged more senior City managers to
consider the mutual benefits of corporate community involvement and
make volunteering a part of mainstream corporate culture.
Lord Mayor of the City of London Nick Anstee says, “While
interest in corporate volunteering is no doubt on the rise, there
is still a great distance to go before it becomes accepted common
practice in the Square Mile. A local charity can often be perceived
as the sole beneficiary in these partnerships but they offer unique
challenges that really test City volunteers. You only need to speak
to some of the previous Dragon Award winners like UBS and Deloitte,
to gather that corporate volunteers and their businesses get just
as much out as they put into this work.”
The Lord Mayor continues, “Research published this month by the
City of London Corporation reveals that volunteers develop broad
business skills as a direct result of their voluntary work; a claim
further corroborated by an overwhelming majority of their line
managers. A day spent in a business training centre, doing role
play or problem solving exercises, can't compare to the real life
training you get from applying yourself to your local community's
needs.”
Now in its 24th year, the annual Lord Mayor’s Dragon Awards
scheme celebrates exceptional achievements in local communities by
partnerships between the private, public and third sectors.
Applications for this year’s scheme will open on Monday 17th May,
with City and community partners competing together for a Dragon
Award in six categories including Social Inclusion, Education and
Economic Regeneration.
This year the Volunteer of the Year Award has been replaced with
the Community Partners Award. Lord Mayor Nick Anstee explains, “In
previous years we’d struggled to find our Volunteer of the Year.
People were reluctant to stand out on their own and be rewarded for
their individual voluntary work because corporate volunteering by
its very nature relies on the collective efforts of many
volunteers, and the charities that they are volunteering with.”
The new Community Partners Award recognises the critical role
community organisations play in the delivery of corporate social
responsibility objectives. Often viewed as the ‘bridge’ between the
corporate and local communities, these organisations maximise the
benefits of corporate involvement for all interests involved.
Applications can be submitted online for all the award
categories at
www.dragonawards.org.uk.
The closing date is 19 July, and winners will be announced at the
Lord Mayor’s Dragon Awards ceremony at Mansion House in the City of
London on 20 October 2010.
The Lord Mayor’s Dragon Awards were established by the then Lord
Mayor Sir David Rowe-Ham in 1987 and are named after the mythical
guardians of the City of London, which can be seen at the gates of
the Square Mile financial district.
Ends
Notes to editors
The 2010 Categories:
- Social Inclusion
For companies working on projects that aim to decrease social
exclusion and/or help improve the quality of life for socially
excluded groups of people. Examples could include working
with:
- Young people in transition
- Homeless people
- Substance mis-users
- Older people
- Young offenders
- Lone parents
- People on low income
- Education
For companies working with educational establishments. Examples of
work could include:
- Mentoring
- Learning Partnerships
- CV workshops
- Work Experience
- Economic Regeneration
For companies that are contributing to the economic regeneration of
an area. Examples could include:
- Local procurement of goods and services
- Helping local people to become more employable e.g. through
mentoring, CV advice, offering work experience
- Providing professional skills and expertise to local
micro-businesses, SMEs, social enterprises or community
organizations through employee volunteering
- Heart of the City
This award is for companies who have set up an effective Corporate
Community Involvement programme for the first time in the last
three years. Heart of the City is a City of London Corporation
initiative which provides free support for companies that are
interested in Corporate Community Involvement and the wider area of
Corporate Social Responsibility.
- The Lord Mayor’s Award
For companies that have shown a long-term, sustainable commitment
to a wide-ranging programme of community engagement in London,
characterised by outstanding levels of staff involvement at all
levels of the organisation and a strong evidence of leadership from
the top and a commitment to the integration of community
involvement into organisational life.
- The Community Partners Award
A new award this year recognising the contribution made by
Community based organisations to Corporate Social
Responsibility.
About the City of London Corporation
The City of London Corporation is a uniquely diverse
organisation. It supports and promotes the City as a world leader
in international finance and business services and provides local
services and policing for those working in, living in and visiting
the Square Mile. It also provides valued services to London and the
nation. These include the Barbican Centre and the Guildhall School
of Music & Drama; the Guildhall Library and Art Gallery and
London Metropolitan Archive; a range of education provision
(including three City Academies); five Thames bridges (including
Tower Bridge and the Millennium Bridge); the Central Criminal Court
at Old Bailey; over 10,000 acres of open spaces (including
Hampstead Heath and Epping Forest), and three wholesale food
markets. It is also London’s Port Health Authority and runs the
Animal Reception Centre at Heathrow. It works in partnership with
neighbouring boroughs on the regeneration of surrounding areas and
the City Bridge Trust, which it oversees, donates more than £15m to
charity annually.
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