Summary
iMPOWER's community programme offers company wide support to its charity partner of the year including financial and in-kind support as well as time and skills, and allows staff eight hours a year for individual volunteering.

Background
iMPOWER was founded in 2000 and is an independent consultancy of 28 staff based in central London. It is focused exclusively on the public sector and on providing support and advice to local authorities on issues of transformation.

Responsible business objectives 
Following a day spent painting and repairing activities at Coram's Fields playground in 2004, iMPOWER decided it wanted to make a more meaningful commitment to the community and launched it's community involvement programme in the summer of 2005.
"As a business we are committed to making a positive and measurable contribution to society. In addition to complimenting the work that we do every day, we recognise our community involvement programme as an essential vehicle for achieving this. Having the opportunity to share our skills, time, energy and money with our community is extremely powerful for our staff, our clients and the community that we operate in. The Board of Directors is delighted with the progress we have made so far and is fully committed to embedding this programme throughout our business." Giles Piercy, Chief Executive of iMPOWER

How they do it

iMPOWER's community programme operates at two levels - through company wide initiatives and by supporting individual involvement.

Secondly the company committed to minimising its environmental impact through implementing paper recycling, buying fair-trade tea & coffee, purchasing recycled stationery products and introducing green cleaning products.

• Charity of the year. A charity partner of the year is selected via staff nominations and a vote open to all staff. iMPOWER's first charity of the year was Kidscape which focused on the prevention of bullying among children. The company has supported the charity in a range of ways from in-kind support (including two laptops and office furniture), enabling Kidscape to benefit from iMPOWER's supplier discounts to staff time and skills and donation of the company's government-funded grant of £300 for setting up a payroll giving scheme. Staff have been involved in a range of activities including participating in assertiveness training sessions for children who are victims of bullying; producing artwork and drawings; as well as involving their suppliers. For National Anti-Bullying Week, the company partnered with a local primary school to develop a range of activities which would involve all staff during a one day volunteering event.
• Environmental policy. The company is committed to minimising its environmental impact through implementing paper recycling, buying fair-trade tea & coffee, purchasing recycled stationery products and introducing green cleaning products.
• Supporting individual involvement. To support individual staff involvement, a payroll giving scheme was set up and a volunteering policy implemented which gave each employee eight hours a year to volunteer in working time with a charity of their choice. In addition iMPOWER would donate £50 for each employee participating in a charity event. The programme is run by iMPOWER's marketing department with support from the HR Manager and was developed by taking part in Heart of the City's Newcomer Programme and enabling the company to benefit from workshops and mentoring by Lloyds of London. The programme was launched at a company wide breakfast briefing where staff received goodie bags containing details of the menu of opportunities for getting involved. 

 What impact it has

• 192 hours of staff time (worth £18,000 in chargeable hours) provided to Stockwell Primary School during the one day volunteering event.

• In the first six months of the programme, 42 hours of staff time have been used for individual volunteering providing support to ten organisations. 96% of staff saying they intend to use their volunteering hours during 2006.

• Kidscape were able to benefit from range of support including consulting skills used to analysis results of questionnaire into perceptions and awareness of bullying carried out as part of the one day volunteering event.

• Kidscape able to benefit from corporate supplier relationships e.g. printing invitations at 20-30% cheaper than able to source themselves.

Business Benefits
Reduced staff turnover of 50% since implementing the programme. It is believed that the community programme has significantly contributed to this.

The whole company volunteering day also helped build staff morale and motivation. A recent staff survey showed that 92% of staff believed the company was committed to improving the community.

The community programme also provides learning opportunities to staff.

iMPOWER was awarded a 'Big Tick' in Business in the Community's Awards for Excellence for the Small Business Impact on Society Award.