Camden Giving & Urban Partners - Impact Report, 2019

In collaboration with Urban Partners, Camden Giving are supporting employees to make a difference to local communities by coordinating employees to skilled volunteering opportunities. The three-year partnership began at the start of 2019, with the aim of 200 short volunteering opportunities being promoted to Urban Partners members and the volunteers then benefiting a minimum of 10 local community organisations and in turn 2,000 individuals.

Camden Giving is based on the notion that everyone has something to give, be that time, skills or money. Through the Urban Partners partnership, Camden Giving focusses on offering skills-based volunteering opportunities to Urban Partners members. This enables each volunteer to develop their own professional and personal skills and return to their workplace with this growth, whilst the group they share their skills with also benefits from the volunteer’s time and knowledge. The mutual benefit of local volunteering sits at the heart of Camden Giving as the charity link between businesses and the community, helping to curate a successful and rewarding volunteering programme.

The importance of connecting communities can be found in a recent dataset published by the GLA (Survey of Londoners in 2018/19). Their Survey of Londoners found that 76% of men and 70% of women surveyed did not feel they had positive, frequent contact with younger/older adults, as part of their wider social group. Interestingly it also found that 71% of men and 68% of women surveyed had not taken part in formal volunteering in the last 12 months. We believe that volunteering can and should be used positively to tackle challenges of intergenerational and social isolation demonstrated in communities in London and we will use the data provided by the GLA to inform our volunteering programme. Urban Partners, in partnering with Camden Giving, are acknowledging the value of their businesses allowing their staff members to volunteer and the power that investing in both people and place can have.

2019 HIGHLIGHTS

  • Interest about local volunteering from 200 employees in person or via the Camden Giving website.

  • 72 Urban Partners employees have taken part in skills-based volunteering this year, with examples including: reviewing business plans for social enterprises, career advice for young people who want to access the arts, coordinating homeless shelter access and support, managing bias & effective communication training and small charity social media updates and overhaul.

  • 25 different local charities have benefitted from volunteer’s time, knowledge & support.

  • Ted Baker launched ‘Ted Gives Back’, a paid volunteering day for all staff in partnership with Camden Giving as the source for the volunteering opportunities. 120 staff members attended the launch presentation hosted by both Ted Baker & Camden Giving and the Commercial Director lead the way by making his volunteer pledge.

  • Camden Giving launched a fundraising campaign on Giving Tuesday, raising funds for local youth services. This was supported by Urban Partners with a bake sale at Havas and a Yoga event hosted by a volunteer from Ted Baker.

  • The Guardian & Eurostar hosted workshops on project management & social media, inviting 20 local charities into their offices for training & provided free resources for them to have.

2020 ASPIRATIONS

  • Get into the Urban Partners businesses that aren’t yet benefiting from local volunteering opportunities. Maintain momentum and success generated in the last quarter of 2019.

  • Have at least another 100 individuals volunteering by the end of 2020.

  • Capture and share the impact generated by the volunteers to-date and ensure the businesses they work for are both aware and sharing the successes.

  • Ensure more volunteer feedback generated. Plans to work with Urban Partners in 2020 on how to incentivise people to leave feedback.

From Camden Giving, thank you to all Urban Partners businesses and their employees who engaged with local volunteering in 2019. We are proud to work alongside you all in ensuring Kings Cross, Euston & St Pancras are inclusive, accessible and beneficial to all who live work & play in the areas.

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