Community investment 

The three community issues on which we will focus for the next two years have been identified through consultations with our stakeholders:

1. Poor employability skills and knowledge of work for people from lower socio-economic groups, leading to underachievement and increased unemployment levels
2. Poor access to professional employment for young people from lower socio-economic groups
3. Challenging conditions for local communities:  many community organisations are facing increasing demand for their services at a time of significant change in funding and the policy environment. Coupled with continued economic challenges, this increases the difficulties facing the communities which need these services the most.

We are sharing our learning on how we formed our community investment strategy, and how we have refocused what we measure and report. We hope this will help others who are embarking on similar journeys. To find out more, please download our document: Community investment – it’s not just what you put in (PDF 375 KB).

We aim to inspire young people and socially excluded individuals to reach their potential by sharing our experience of the world of work to raise aspirations and develop skills

Issue
Poor employability skills and knowledge of work opportunities for people from lower socio-economic groups leading to underachievement and increased unemployment levels

Why? 

• A poorly performing and divided society has a significant negative impact on our people, our clients and our communities. 
  
• We have a responsibility to work towards a society in which everyone is able to unlock their potential, and to use our skills and experience to support the next generation of people who want to join the UK workforce. 

What are we doing?

• Increasing the career awareness, motivations and employability skills of young people and promoting the firms school and college leaver opportunities in 95 secondary schools.
  
• Raising confidence in numeracy and literacy for students in schools linked to our local offices, and through our national charity partner, Action for Literacy.
  
• Developing employability skills in socially excluded groups; refugees, recently ex-homeless people and those at risk of becoming homeless through our national charity partnership with Shelter.

2012-2014 targets: We aim to provide direct support to help improve the employability skills of 5,000 secondary school students and 180 people from socially excluded groups

We are providing a variety of early career routes into our profession and aim to ensure that we maximise the talent of under represented groups

Why?

• 83% of new jobs in the UK in the next 10 years are predicted to come from the professions, our growth will form part of this
  
• We recognise the benefits in recruiting talented people from diverse backgrounds to ensure our business is fit for purpose moving forward

 

What are we doing?

• Training programmes and apprenticeships for post A level/equivalents, including Audit School Leaver Programme, Risk Consulting Technology and Accounting level 4 apprenticeships and 11 month paid work placement programme offering 190 places across the UK
  
• Focused work to increase our recruitment from a diverse talent pool
  
• National education outreach: recruitment marketing programme targeting schools serving disadvantaged populations

 

2012-2014 targets: We aim to recruit 25% of students from disadvantaged backgrounds onto our school leaver programmes.

 

We aim to increase the capacity and improve the governance of our local community organisations by sharing our professional skills and experience, reflecting the expertise we offer our clients. We also raise funds for our national charity partners, Action for Literacy and Shelter.

Issue
Challenging conditions for local communities:  many community organisations are facing increasing demand for their services at a time of significant change in funding and the policy environment.

Why?
Changes in government policy in education and social welfare have led to significant structural change and in some cases a reduction in resources whilst demand for services continues. Coupled with continued economic challenges this increases the difficulties facing the communities which need these services the most.

What are we doing?

• Increasing the capacity of key charities including our national charity partners, Action for Literacy and Shelter, through pro bono work, business workshops, mentoring, lobbying and providing environmental advice.
• Strengthening governance by sharing our professional skills as Charity Trustees and School Governors.
• Improving access to opportunities for schools, by working through consortia of businesses. We sponsor the City Academy, Hackney with the Corporation of London.
• Providing small donations to support these organisations. Click here to view our donations policy (PDF 243 KB). 
• Raising funds for our national charity partners, Action for Literacy and Shelter to support literacy and employability initiatives.

2012-2014 targets: We aim to directly support 1,200 organisations to strengthen each year by sharing our business skills, through governance, pro bono activities, mentoring, workshops, donations and fundraising.

We recognise that we must work smarter to deliver the benefits we have identified in our Community Investment strategy.  Over the next year we will work with our people, community partners, clients and suppliers to:

• Help six offices to undertake a community footprint exercise for their city
  
• Develop a pro bono strategy which focuses our resources on doing what we do best to better support civil society organisations and schools
  
• Undertake a review of key aspects of our employability activities in schools and further education to improve management, outputs and outcomes for students and our people: primary basic skills programme and current secondary pilot programmes
  
• Extend the value we bring to our national charity partners, Action for Literacy and Shelter, beyond financial support by leveraging our core skills through volunteering, pro bono services and supporting their lobbying activity at government level. You can find out more here.