Canary Wharf Group actively encourages its employees to take part in voluntary work, both in organised work time activity and in their spare time.
From sponsored bike rides, to jogs, to helping out in local community projects, all levels and departments of the company have been involved.
George Iacobescu, Chief Executive is himself a Trustee of the British Museum and was founding co-Chair of charity Teach First. George was presented with a special award by Teach First in 2010 for his work helping to set up this very successful educational project.
Our senior directors volunteer as trustees and board members of such wide-ranging organisations as the Rugby Football Union and Business Action on Homelessness.
Gay Harrington, Social and Economic Development Manager, is one of the many Canary Wharf Group employees who acts as a School Governor. Gay is in fact the Chair of Governors of both Newham Victoria Sixth Form College and a local Tower Hamlets primary school. She was honoured for her dedication and the achievement of these two schools by being awarded London Regional School Governor of the Year and being shortlisted for National School Governor of the Year.
In recent years the Company has begun an active programme promoting corporate volunteering to staff, working in particular with Business in the Community. We have taken part in BITC’s “Give and Gain Day” – a national day of corporate volunteering.
Another popular activity is working with the Isle of Dogs Community Foundation (IDCF) to fill and deliver Christmas gift bags to older residents around Canary Wharf. For many of these older people these bags will be the only presents they get – and for some the visit of an enthusiastic Canary Wharf Group volunteer the only visit they will have over Christmas.
Perhaps the most in-depth voluntary activity is done during business hours where staff members have agreed to be the supervisor of a work experience placement. These placements, totalling more than 60 each year across the company include secondary school students from local schools, local graduates and undergraduates, and homeless people getting back into mainstream employment through Business Action on Homelessness.
Not only is it quite hard work looking after a relatively inexperienced new colleague for a short time, often staff will choose to have an ongoing relationship with the work experience person, mentoring them after their placement. Many of our work experience colleagues have later returned to us as full time staff members – a huge tribute to the hard work of their supervisors making them feel welcome, and helping make the placement a genuinely useful and positive experience.