25th Lord Mayor's Dragon Award winners illustrate 'radical' changes in City's philanthropy

25th Lord Mayor's Dragon Award winners illustrate 'radical' changes in City's philanthropy

News (UK)

Training and employment initiatives topped the 25th Lord Mayor’s Dragon Awards held on October 3 at Mansion House, validating new City of London Corporation research showing a dramatic shift in how businesses are volunteering in London communities.

Winners included UBS, recipient of the Lord Mayor’s 25th anniversary award, who have worked to increase employment in the borough of Hackney from 54% to 69% over the past 25 years. New research commissioned by the City of London Corporation shows that businesses across London are mirroring this commitment. Over the past decade, businesses have moved away from a model of only donating cash sums, with local communities seeing an increase in the proportion of businesses focusing on training for employment.

In 2001, the percentage of Dragon Awards applicants prioritising training for employment stood at 20%, more than doubling to 45% in 2012.

The new figures also show that almost half the London workforce currently volunteers in their community. The research, conducted by the Square Mile’s elected body that supports both the financial services and London’s jobs agenda, highlighted a more than 20% increase in employees engaged with CSR over five years. 

The research was commissioned by the City of London Corporation to mark the Dragon Awards’ quarter century milestone. The Dragon Awards celebrate outstanding corporate community engagement initiatives in London. To date, those who have claimed awards have contributed to over 50,000 volunteering hours, equating to a monetary value of over £800,000 in community projects.

The Lord Mayor of the City of London, David Wootton, in awarding the best in corporate philanthropy and CSR said there has been a 'radical' change in volunteering over the last quarter of a century: “Tonight’s winners, and our research indicates a major shift in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) policy over the past 25 years. CSR is no longer seen by businesses as an add-on, rather it is seen as an integral means by which to ensure a healthy, sustainable and profitable business. The Dragon Awards are proud to honour the commitment London businesses are making to their local areas."

Eight organisations were honoured for their community work over the past year at the Dragon Awards tonight - the oldest CSR awards in the UK.

Complementing the more hands-on, vocational and skills-building approach now taken to corporate volunteering, the most noteworthy change in the composition of applications over the past decade is the involvement of the property and construction industry.

In 2001 only 7% of applications were from this sector. This has increased to 24% by 2012, meaning that the property and construction sector was the most heavily represented in this year’s applications.

Ethical Construction company 8build, nominated for the Lord mayor’s 25th Anniversary Award for their Giving Back scheme, provide training and careers workshops for young people. Over the past six and a half years, 8build have helped 113 charities in London, provided eight students with six month training placements and facilitated 80 students within career workshops focused on the construction industry as well as raising £42,000 in funds for different causes.

Cliff Broomfield, 8build Project Manager, spoke of the benefits of the scheme for recipients and the business: “Being a mentor for the programme was inspirational - watching the students grow and enjoy learning and getting involved in site activities. It took me back in time to when I started learning the ropes.

“More than that, I’m convinced that our commitment to the communities around us makes our business more successful - reputation is everything in business.”

Charity Body & Soul, recipients of the Community Partners Award, provides support for young people and families affected by HIV. They partnered with Red Door Communications (RDC) in 2008 and last year started to provide media training for young people living with or closely affected by HIV. The aim is to increase confidence in the young people in communicating about their condition and give them the skills to be able to accept any difficult questions in their personal life or in any media interviews they wished to take on to break the taboo of talking about their HIV.

Mother of two Janet Arinaitwe, 30, from Wimbledon has been using Body and Soul’s services and campaigning with the charity for nine years. She said: “I was diagnosed with HIV when I was 19. I thought it was a death sentence, but meeting the young people here inspired me and taught me that I could lead a healthy life.

“I decided to take part in the media training that Red Door Communications and Body and Soul offered so that I could try and break the stigma that’s associated around being HIV positive. If I’d seen more young faces talking about HIV when I was diagnosed, perhaps I would have been more able to accept my condition sooner.”

Reed Smith, winner of the Social Inclusion Award, is a global commercial law firm who have partnered with Create, a creative arts charity to deliver Creative:U-Turn. The project is aimed at improving the lives of vulnerable and socially excluded women in East London who attend the U-Turn Project by enabling them to explore their creativity, build their confidence and self-esteem, learn new skills and become integrated into the wider community. Participants of the project have often been trapped in cycles of prostitution, drug addiction, physical abuse and homelessness.

After losing her mum and access to her daughter, Carole Summers, 36 from Whitechapel began pushing people away, and became increasingly isolated. She was convinced to attend the group around two years ago, and is now a regular attendee.

She said: “I fell in love with coming here. It gives me a community to be part of. I help in the garden, and take part in all of the workshops. I left school at 16 and had no idea I was creative or could do the things that I’ve learnt I can do.”

The Lord Mayor’s Dragon Awards were established by the then Lord Mayor Sir David Rowe-Ham in 1987 and are named after the mythical guardians of the City of London, which can be seen at the gates of the Square Mile financial district.

2012 Categories and winners

Education - Pearson for their Booktime programme

Economic Regeneration MITIE for Real Apprentice

Social Inclusion Reed Smith LLP for Create/U-Turn

The Community Partners Award Body & Soul for their partnership with Red Door Communications: Guy Fox History Project Ltd for their partnership with UBS AG

Heart of the City Award for companies who have set up an effective Corporate Community Involvement programme for the first time in the last three years  - Sapphire Systems

The Lord Mayor’s 25th Anniversary Award for companies that have shown a long-term, sustainable commitment to a wide-ranging programme of community engagement in London,characterised by outstanding levels of staff involvement at all levels of the organisation and a strong evidence of leadership from the top and a commitment to the integration of community involvement into organisational life: UBS for 25 Years of UBS in Hackney and in the SME category: 8build for Giving Back

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