RBS 2010 Annual Report Download - page 48

RBS Group 201046
Sustainability continued
We introduced a new magazine called Pocket Money for families, reaching
an audience of over 600,000 people in the UK. New Business Start-Up
Guides were launched on NatWest.com, and our MoneySense booklets
for adults were revised and written in plain English as part of the UK
Customer Charter commitment to make banking easier.
Over the last three years our funding to Macmillan cancer support helped
them to expand their benefits helpline by 50%. In 2010, three new face to
face Macmillan advice services were launched. Together this helped
9,500 people unlock over £20 million of funds to help with the impact of
their cancer diagnosis. At the end of 2010, the RBS Group agreed to fund
Macmillan for a further three years to increase delivery of face-to-face
money guidance for people living with cancer across the UK.
The Group continued to assist our key partners. We remain to be one of
the largest corporate sponsors of the Money Advice Trust and in 2010
provided funding for key projects or areas of research to Mind, RNIB,
Gingerbread, Transact, Toynbee Hall, and Citizen’s Advice. We will
continue to work with the charities in 2011 to fund projects which will
improve access to information, increase the number of quality financial
education and training resources available, and meet the specific needs
for the members of each charity organisation.
Our Ulster Bank MoneySense for Schools programme was launched in
2007 and is already the largest financial education programme for
secondary schools in Northern Ireland and Ireland, with 380 volunteers
from Ulster Bank. The Youthbank programme run by Ulster Bank also
helps to develop a range of skills in young people by distributing grants
for youth-led projects in their communities.
The Community Reinvestment Act in the US encourages banks to lend to
low and moderate income communities. In 2010, Citizens and Charter One
provided more than 275 financial literacy programmes, educating over
13,000 people. Citizens has also partnered with the Federal Deposit
Insurance Corporation to provide Money Smart Training, helping people
outside the financial mainstream enhance their money skills and create
positive banking relationships. Citizens’ ‘Gear for Grades’ programme
provides school supplies for children whose families cannot afford them.
Since its inception in 2003, ‘Gear for Grades’ has served over 150,000
school children.
Supporting enterprise
Our Supporting enterprise programme works with partners to support
potential business start-ups and helps to build the capability of
alternative means of finance and support for would-be entrepreneurs
who would not normally qualify for direct support from banks.
We have a long standing relationship with The Prince’s Trust. We are
the largest corporate sponsor of The Prince’s Trust Enterprise
Programme, which helped nearly 5,000 young people in 2010. We
are proud sponsors of their new practical guide to starting up your
own business. This book condenses the years of expertise The Prince’s
Trust has gained when helping young people in business and includes
real life stories of success and advice from business leaders. This is
just one of the ways we have supported them through our corporate
partnership. We also provide support for The Prince’s Scottish Youth
Business Trust.
smallbusinesscan provides guidance and support to help small
businesses in the UK and Ireland and is supported by Ulster Bank.
This programme provides simple and practical tools to help small
businesses gain insights and build a network of trusted contacts,
enabling start ups to progress and promote growth.
In 2010, we launched a partnership with the British Academy of Film and
Television Arts (BAFTA) and its Youth Mentoring Programme, delivered
in conjunction with Media Trust. In this programme, BAFTA members,
award-winners and leading practitioners volunteer as mentors to
disadvantaged young people on media projects, enhancing their
knowledge, skills and personal development to give them new
opportunities in life.
We also sponsor Youth Business International projects in Russia,
Hong Kong and France that provide opportunities for would-be young
entrepreneurs in those countries.
Our microfinance programme in India goes further than simply lending
to Microfinance Institutions (MFIs). We have also invested in 'technical
assistance' to create and sustain robust, creditworthy MFIs in
underserved regions. This programme has supported 37 MFIs,
facilitating access to finance for over 200,000 households. Also in India,
our Livelihood projects improve communities' income generating abilities
through a range of interventions including training, investment and
market linkages. We currently have 17 Livelihood projects across 14
states, reaching over 63,000 households.
2010 also saw the launch of the RBS SE100 Index, a unique report that
provides information on the growth and impact of the top 100 social
enterprises in the UK. This will play a vital role in promoting the success
and diversity of this sector.
Employee and community engagement
Our Employee and community engagement programme supports the
great work that our employees already do in their communities and
encourages further involvement to strengthen our support for the
communities we live in.
As part of our UK Customer Charter we launched the Community Fund
in 2010, a way of putting real benefit back into the communities, at the
choice of our customers. To date £1.8 million has been given to charities
chosen by our customers and employees from their local branch and
7,547 days off have been given to branch staff to help support the
causes important to them.
Our volunteering programme provides a range of team activities that
our employees can take part in during work time. We run the activities
through nine charities so that our employees can deliver the skills,
services or fundraising that they need. This year 4,100 employees
engaged in 225 activities.
Our Global Banking and Markets division launched a new, bespoke
volunteering programme across all of its businesses, targeting four
areas where it hopes to have a lasting impact on the lives of children
and young people: education, health, social welfare and enterprise and
employability. In 2010, over 1,000 employees volunteered their time in
support of this programme.
In 2010, the Citizens Charitable Foundation invested more than $14
million in charitable grants to more than 1,000 non-profit organisations
across 12 states.