Corporate Social Responsibility

Are you looking for...

Case Studies

Case Study – Bradford & Bingley and St Basils

St Basils is the largest charity outside London working with young people who are homeless or in danger of homelessness. We try to take a holistic view of the problem not only providing accommodation but also family mediation, employment and education services, and with our Schools Training and Mentoring Programme (‘STaMP’) we are taking our message that homelessness should never be a accepted part of growing up to the next generation.

We also participate in the Ready for Work scheme run by Business Action on Homelessness.We have found Bradford & Bingley to be valuable partners in this scheme, as they provide valuable training and support to our clients who are preparing to re-enter employment.

To do all this costs money and we rely on charitable donations to provide more than £500,000 each year. To keep up this income it is vital that we communicate well with all our donors. Quality is a key, when our newsletter hits the doormat or desk it will be competing for attention with glossy catalogues, full colour brochures and offers of everything from holidays in the sun to cheap loans.

Bradford & Bingley help us to compete by printing our quarterly newsletter for us, with full colour cover and high quality gloss paper we can look as good as everyone else, without the expense. Here is another example of Corporate Social Responsibility at work; making a difference to the future of thousands of young people who might otherwise struggle.

For more information on St Basils please visit www.stbasils.org.uk

Blair Kessler
Head of Fundraising and Corporate Relations

Case Study – Bradford & Bingley and the New Sheffield Bond

Citylife Bonds give communities across the UK the chance to pool money together to tackle local unemployment and exclusion issues. By helping to fund local employment and enterprise causes, communities work together to renew hope, success and prosperity for individuals and neighbourhoods alike. Over 5 years the Bond gives about 25% of this money in grants to such charitable causes. The rest is invested to build or renovate properties for community benefit at a return which ensures all Bondholders receive their original investment back at the end of the five year perid. So far, nationally, for every one investor who has bought a Bond, one other person in the community has got into work (and at less risk of poverty, depression, poor housing, ill-health and crime).

This innovative way of working puts Citylife Bonds at the cutting edge of charitable giving and smart investment in communities across the country. As an essential partner in The New Sheffield Bond, Bradford & Bingley has demonstrated long term commitment to these issues not only as trustee and registrar, but also as a leading example by investing a fantastic £100,000.

Bradford & Bingley have also helped us raise awareness and funds by getting involved at branch level with a special Bond savings account and with the ambassadorship of John Reynolds, the branch manager at Sheffield. This across-the-board support makes sure the Bond can reach into the heart of the community funding projects in Sheffield such as full employment zones, eco-affordable housing, and community enterprise hubs - and further afield such as The Princes Trust, Places for Children and so on.

Citylife looks forward to working with Bradford & Bingley over the Bond period in Sheffield and into the future across the UK.

For more information on how you can help Citylife Bonds go to www.citylifebond.org

Tim Jones
Chief Executive, Citylife

Case Study – QED working with Bradford & Bingley

QED was founded in 1990 to improve the economic circumstances of the most disadvantaged communities and contribute to a socially cohesive society based on the principles of equality, diversity and social justice. In 2003 it was one the finalists in the UK Charity Awards.

There are, however, huge diversities between and within disadvantaged communities. Half of the households in these communities earn less than 50% of the national average income but according to the Policy Study Institute, this figure rises to eight out of ten for people of Pakistani and Bangladeshi backgrounds compared with less than three out of ten for the general population. QED addresses these issues. (Source: “The Fourth National Survey of Ethnic Minorities”)

The support from Bradford & Bingley is used to finance the development of projects and campaigns, and to leverage additional funds. Current activities include:

• South Asian Voluntary Organisations Network (SAVON)
  To help to build the capacity of 120 Asian community-led groups in Yorkshire and support their involvement with the mainstream institutions.
• Regeneration Matters Network ( RMN)
  To set up a network of about 80 people of Asian background in West Yorkshire and support their involvement in policy-making bodies.
• Learnquest
  To support groups involved in learning and helping 236 people to find new or better jobs or go on to further education and training.
• Ethnic Monitoring Training
  Training 350 people in the South East and South West in association with Business Links.

Last year QED UK total income was £871,406. Bradford & Bingley sponsorship played a critical part in leveraging these funds to run these activities.

Mohammed Ali OBE
Chief Executive QED

Legal | Privacy | Accessibility