700+ hours of volunteering through Better You, Better World campaign
The pandemic has exacerbated existing social inequalities and left many of us wondering: ‘how can I make a difference?’
This month we launched ‘Better you, better world’. We combined our internal learning event, Learnfest, with Collective Action, an initiative launched last year which aimed to unite our colleagues around the world to make an impact in their communities. The campaign aimed to help our people grow their skills for a better you and uncover how they could contribute to a better world. 700+ hours of volunteering were logged during June by colleagues around the world.
Advising on a school Board, supporting a charity on a project strategy, coaching a low income student on their career options, mentoring someone coming out of prison, hosting a student through one of our inclusion programmes, joining an employability workshop – these are just some of the many ways our people are making an impact in their communities through volunteering.
At Schroders we have always supported our people in their volunteering efforts through a generous time matching scheme and volunteer leave programme. This month we worked with charities around the world to run dedicated volunteering opportunities where our people could volunteer their time to make an impact in their communities and contribute to reducing inequalities.
Innovation workshop with the Social Business Trust
The Social Business Trust (SBT) supports social enterprises which address social problems such as education disadvantage, employability and elderly care. We ran a half day innovation workshop where our employees used their skills to help solve some of the challenges the social enterprises were facing.
“A huge thank you to the volunteers or their outstanding contributions so early on in the partnership. We look forward to the future.” – Adele Blakebrough MBE, CEO, Social Business Trust
Tom Hammond, Global Sustainable Equity Analyst, UK, has been volunteering with SBT since earlier this year: “The last year or so has highlighted how acute many of the challenges facing the world are, particularly social challenges. Working with the SBT has given me the opportunity to use the skills I have learnt at Schroders.”
We know that volunteering offers everyone an avenue to share their skills and develop new ones, such as leadership or technical skills, in a different setting, working with a charity partner or social enterprise. It’s a great way to make a difference in our communities and develop as an individual. Getting involved brings the beneficiary a more diverse range of skills, experience and knowledge, while helping shift systemic changes that ultimately benefit social mobility and make a social contribution whilst also learning.
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