Lloyds Banking Group has achieved BITC’s CommunityMark for its investment in local, especially vulnerable, communities and its work on financial capability and addressing people’s needs in an unhealthy economy.
Lloyds Banking Group’s Charity of the Year Programme is its flagship colleague fundraising initiative where employees are challenged to raise over £1million for the Group’s ‘Charity of Year’. This year, Lloyds Banking Group’s employees have chosen to support Save the Children.
Much of the Group’s charitable giving is through the Lloyds TSB Foundations and Bank of Scotland Foundation – five independent charitable Foundations supported solely by the Group. In the last 25 years, more than £480 million has been invested in small, grassroots charities across the UK through the Lloyds TSB Foundations. This investment often covers charities’ core costs, such as wages for key employees. In the current economic climate, when many charities are finding it difficult to attract funding, the Foundation grants are helping many charities to survive.
Lloyds Banking Group is committed to enabling employees to make a contribution to communities as one of the UK’s biggest employers. Through its Day to Make a Difference volunteering initiative all Lloyds Banking Group employees can spend one day a year during work time volunteering for a charity or local community project of their choice. Over 7,300 employees volunteered during 2010 in their local communities, through this programme and other volunteering initiatives.
As the Official Banking and Insurance Partner of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, Lloyds Banking Group is using the power of the London 2012 Games to inspire young people to take part in more sport through Lloyds TSB and Bank of Scotland National School Sport Week, delivered in partnership with the charity Youth Sport Trust in England and Wales and sportscotland in Scotland. In 2010, almost 50 per cent of UK schools, and five million young people, took part.
Lloyds TSB and Bank of Scotland also support the future stars of Team GB and ParalympicsGB through its Local Heroes programme providing funding to more than 1,000 emerging young athletes across Britain by 2012. Athletes receive £1,000 to help towards their training, equipment and travel costs.
The Bank of Scotland Midnight League is a 5-a-side community football programme run in partnership with the Scottish Football Association and the Scottish School’s Football Association. It aims to keep young people off the streets, reduce crime levels and anti-social behaviour by providing football training late on weekday and weekend evenings. Working with police forces, local authorities and football coaches we have extended the programme to all 32 local authorities in Scotland, helping over 10,000 young people take part. Local police forces have confirmed a 38 per cent reduction in calls during the Midnight Leagues, and a 60 per cent reduction in youth related anti-social behaviour.
Lloyds Banking Group provides over 4.2 million social bank accounts. In 2010, we opened 260,000 new basic bank accounts, representing a 32 per cent share of all new basic bank accounts. As the biggest provider of social bank accounts in the UK Lloyds Banking Group has made a significant contribution to the Government’s goal to halve the number of adults in the UK without access to a bank account. Social banking provides an entry into financial services for people, often those on low incomes, who would otherwise be financially excluded.
Money for Life Financial Capability Programme is £4 million programme for the further education (FE) sector. It aims to develop the capacity of the FE sector to improve the financial capability and personal money management skills of the three million people it serves. Money for Life will enable FE practitioners to gain an accredited qualification in personal money management which will equip them to provide financial education to FE learners for many years to come. Over the next two years Lloyds Banking Group will also train 500 employees as Money for Life mentors to provide them with the skills they need to support the Group’s financial education agenda in their local communities.
For details on other projects and community initiatives that led to Lloyds Banking Group achieving the CommunityMark, please visit www.lloydsbankinggroup.com
The difference in black and white
To date, Lloyds Banking Group has contributed the following through its community investment programme:
Invested £76 million in communities in 2010, including support for financial inclusion and capability, sponsorship of sports for young people and support to the Group’s charitable Foundations.
Raised £3.6 million in total for the British Heart Foundation, its Charity of the Year from July 2008 to December 2010 through a wide range of employee, customer and shareholder fundraising projects. The money raised funds 15 specialist BHF Heart Nurses and 12 healthcare assistants, nurses, psychologists and health educators, who will support 14,400 patients and their families across the UK.
Launched ‘Money for Life’, a new £4 million financial capability programme for the further education sector in 2010.
Over the next two years the Group is aiming to train 500 employees through the ‘Money for Life’ programme, to enable them to support its financial education agenda in their local communities.
It currently provides over 4.2 million social bank accounts. In 2010, it opened 260,000 new basic bank accounts, representing a 32 per cent share of all new basic bank accounts.
In the last 25 years, more than £480 million has been invested in small, grassroots charities across the UK through the Lloyds TSB Foundations. In 2010, the Bank of Scotland Foundation was established to take forward the Group’s long term community investment in Scotland.
Last year, Lloyds provided more than £29 million to the Foundations. This enabled the Foundations to support over 1,200 charities across the UK.
In 2010, launched the ‘Day to Make a Difference’ volunteering programme and over 7,300 employees volunteered in their local communities, through this programme and other volunteering initiatives.
The Foundations match funds raised for charity or time given in volunteering. In 2010, colleagues claimed £1.3 million in matched funding, raising £3.2 million for charities in the process. The matching of funds has been raised to £1,000 per employee in 2011.
Lloyds TSB National School Sport Week and Bank of Scotland National School Sport Week, delivered in partnership with the charity Youth Sport Trust in England and Wales and sportscotland in Scotland. In 2010, almost 50 per cent of UK schools, and five million young people, took part.
Lloyds TSB also supports the future stars of Team GB and ParalympicsGB through its Local Heroes programme which will have provided funding to more than 1,000 emerging young athletes across Britain by 2012. Athletes receive £1,000 to help towards their training, equipment and travel costs.
The Bank of Scotland Midnight League is a 5-a-side community football programme run in all 32 local authorities in Scotland, helping over 10,000 young people take part. In 2010 signed a new three year agreement which will see the Bank of Scotland complete a decade of support for the Midnight Leagues.
