Corporate social responsibility
Legal & General is committed to maintaining its Community Involvement budget to fund Third Sector initiatives and partnerships in 2008. During tougher economic times we believe that it is essential that we continue our support. Our local community involvement teams at our major locations in Birmingham, Cardiff, Hove, Ipswich, Kingswood, London and Swindon distribute the majority of our funding.
From a Group perspective, Legal & General has selected its main joint CSR ventures for 2008.
Criteria for Third Sector Partnerships
When we decide on these ventures we apply the following criteria, which we believe, help to ensure that we add sustainable value.
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Making a 30-40% difference to the bottom line of the organisation. We either work with smaller charities where our contribution makes a significant difference, or where funds are ring fenced for a specific project.
We look for a direct link with our core businesses (financial inclusion, health, security)
If possible we look for projects that offer the opportunity to work closely with our Banks and Building Society Partners, so we can jointly make more of a combined difference.
We aim to contribute our knowledge, skills, expertise, resources and influence over others as well as any financial contribution.
We want our customers to be aware of what we support and aim to select partnerships that will have resonance with them.
Whatever the social or economic issue we are trying to tackle we try to link it to a Regional Development Agencies Agenda (RDA). That way corporate funding can be combined with government funding
Groupwide Third Sector Partnerships in 2008 include
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Our Employed Sales force have just started working closely with social enterprise organisation A4e. A4e and Legal & General first met during the Thoresen Review which was set up to evaluate how best a Generic Financial Advice Service can be delivered to UK Consumers. As part of our input, Legal & General is committed to helping to find ways of piloting commercial models of generic financial advice. Legal & General's Financial Academy Advisors, as part of their curriculum, will gain valuable knowledge and expertise from A4e to help them to understand ways to get people back on their feet, out of debt and into a financially positive situation. Legal & General and A4e advisors will also be 'buddied up' on a volunteering programme where they will go into communities where rent is still paid in cash and loan shark / door step lending is common place. Teaming up with A4e will really help L&G Advisers understand the barriers that so many consumers face today in overcoming money problems. |
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By 2050 two-thirds of children and nine in ten adults will be overweight or obese. This will have dramatic implications for the life assurance industry as we take into account shorter lives, higher risk, and as a result higher premiums. Our newest partner, MEND, (Mind, Exercise, Nutrition, Do it!), is an organisation committed to improving the health of families through the development of prevention and treatment programmes for childhood obesity. We're investing £45k for the development and delivery of the "MEND in a box" teaching resource. This kit will enable teachers to incorporate healthy living into their lesson plans to encourage children to make healthy choices about activity and food. In July 2008, the MEND Team started working with our Life Assurance underwriters and product designers to understand the shape of the life assurance market in the long term based on what they were seeing with current childhood obesity trends. |
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Legal & General has been working with Macmillan to support a strategy for financial services provision to people within its care. We will continue to provide our expertise to them in the second half of the year and work with our Strategic Partners Nationwide Building Society to provide a campaign highlighting Nationwide's 15 years of support with Macmillan. |
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Legal & General Property has been working with the Woodland Trust to advise on strategic access to land so that it can be used to achieve their aims of planting woodland. As the 4th biggest property fund manager in the UK, LGP can assist with contacts and expertise to unlock land. We are also investigating whether there is an opportunity for the Woodland Trust to look at the option of managing woodland in our commercial property developments in the future. |
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Legal & General continues its support of Whizz-Kidz by funding a post within the organisation to help families get access and ongoing support for their mobility questions. Whizz-Kidz aims to help Legal & General to become more attuned to the issues of disability in the workplace and within our commercial property portfolio at point of design. |
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In March 2008, Legal & General handed over funds valued at nearly £60k which have funded a Vital signs monitor and a Blood Bank. Money was raised by the London Community Involvement team and also through a campaign by our pensions teams encouraging customers to provide us with feedback which was then rewarded with a donation to Great Ormond Street. This was a great example of where we created a joint venture where the business, customer and charity all gained. |
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Our HandyVan commitment to provide security and support services to the elderly in Cardiff and Birmingham has been expanded for another three years and will additionally now cover Swindon and the Sussex Coast. This service is vital to providing vulnerable elderly communities with essential services to make them feel secure in their own homes. |
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Our 2007 Investment in the Money Trail CD designed to give people an insight into their retirements plans are currently being distributed into Legal & General's Corporate Business Division so that when Group Pension Schemes are set up, members of that scheme can get some impartial advice on whether they are saving enough for retirement. |
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The development of the Think Fit packs continues in line with our Group Risk Business. Our relationship with BHF means that vital expertise on living healthily can be made available to major UK employers as part of the services that Legal & General offers its customers when considering employee benefits packages. |
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Legal & General continues its long term relationship with Crimestoppers the charity set up to provide an independent and anonymous way for the general public to report crime. This is currently closely linked in with our Compliance function who see strong links between the prevention of financial crime and street crime. Legal & General is sponsoring the development of "Shadow Junior" a website designed to help young people to make the right choices when out on the street as well as the Blue Blindfold campaign in Sussex which aims to flag the issue of people trafficking. |
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LGV Capital has been working with the University of Buckingham's Business enterprise Degree course to develop the only degree course in Europe focussed upon encouraging and setting up small entrepreneurial businesses as part of their course. This three-year relationship involves LGV providing seed capital for students and participating in the Dragons Den style business case presentations. LGV Capital is keen to encourage new entrepreneurs into the UK economy with the possibility that these budding entrepreneurs may require Venture Capital in the future. |
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On June 27 2008 Legal & General announced its founding membership of the SEEDA Corporate Cabinet. The aims of the SEEDA initiative are to bring funding and support from Corporate Partners within the region. For us as a founding member it also means we receive guidance on the real issues on the ground on where to provide funding support. Legal & General leads the area of Financial Inclusion and participates in the Health Communities programmes. |
Our Employee Involvement Schemes continue to Grow. ...
Despite tougher economic conditions, Legal & General employees continue to show strong support for charities in 2008. After a full review, we increased matched funding of donations from employees by Legal & General from £20 to £25 a month. The aim is to inject around £1m a year through the Give as You earn programme to maximise the use of this tax efficient method of charitable giving.
Our Matched Funding Programme also provides our employees with up to £750 per year of matched funding when they raise money through sponsorship or an event for charity.
School Governors - Legal & General and its 54 school Governors are working with Business in the Community and the University of Bath to feed into a full review of support for this vital community role. The report will be published on the 14 October at the National Employee Governors Conference which is taking place at the QE2 Conference Centre, Westminster when we will be joined by Ed Balls.
Employee volunteering - Our commitment to provide 100 volunteering days at each of our major locations is on track. A full report of the progress will be made in the 2008 CSR report published in early 2009.
Looking forward to December we are in the middle of launching our 2008 MAD (Making a Difference) Awards which highlight and reward Employees and Suppliers who go the extra mile in providing products and services to Legal & General. We strongly believe that showcasing examples of the right behaviour sends out a strong message on the standards we expect.
