Each year we collect the amount of cash, time and in-kind help given to charities and community groups using the London Benchmarking Group model.
Over the last year we invested around £3 million in the communities that have been impacted by our operations, through the activities of our employees (including our education and catchment teams) and through work with partners such as Groundwork, RSPB and the Mersey Basin Campaign.
We have continued to support our employees in community activity by enabling them to volunteer in company time, matching their own fundraising efforts up to £250 and by making grants of up to £250 to community groups to which our people give their time. In 2008 our support via employee fundraising and matched funding amounted to around £167,871, with an additional £16,250 donated via community grants. This represents an increase on last year’s figure and is testament to our employees’ efforts in fundraising and volunteering work in their local communities.