BEST CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY SCHEME 2019
Albion in the Community & American Express
Albion in the Community (AITC) and American Express are working together to help build essential skills and confidence amongst young people in Sussex.
As the largest private sector employer in Brighton, the shirt sponsors of Brighton & Hove Albion FC and holding the official naming rights to the club’s stadium and training ground, Amex invests funding and colleague time into a creative CSR partnership with AITC. This is a natural extension of the company’s involvement with the Albion and a significant way they give back to the local community.
With an increasingly- challenging economy, it has never been more important to leave school armed with qualifications. However, many young people are still struggling to engage with core subjects at school, leaving them at risk of entering the job market with a significant skills deficit.
Albion in the Community (AITC) and American Express are tackling this problem together through a unique CSR programme which includes a range of creative educational projects – each supported by a hugely-committed and skilled team of volunteers from Amex.
Colleagues from Amex work alongside AITC to provide numeracy, literacy, enterprise and work ready activities to help prevent long-term unemployment in Brighton and Hove.
Everton in the Community
Almost the entire ward of Everton falls into the deprived five per cent of neighbourhoods nationally, and mental illness and suicide are more common in more significantly deprived inner-city areas such as Liverpool 4 where Goodison Park resides.
Mental health is an increasing and challenging issue within our society; suicide kills 150 people across Merseyside each year. Everton in the Community has a responsibility to effect change and in August 2018, the charity launched its most ambitious fundraising campaign yet, The People’s Place, to build a permanent mental health facility in the shadows of Goodison Park.
With a fundraising target of one-million-pounds, the charity will build and develop a purpose built facility that will become a delivery site for the charity’s existing mental health programmes and enable signposting to other services such as suicide awareness and prevention.
The People’s Place will provide an overarching service to anyone, regardless of age, gender or location, to promote positive mental health alongside support related to suicide awareness and prevention.
Football club “Riteriai” (FK Riteriai)
The video of #MakeItLouder – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNFg4YpEmTQ
#MakeItLouder is a social initiative aimed at raising awareness of people with hearing disabilities who face information inaccessibility.
The main idea was to adapt UEFA Europe League QR match for the deaf and hard hearing people and it was the first time in the history of Lithuanian football and sports.
What have we done?
First of all players and coach using sign language recorded video invitations in which they invited fans to the match.
All UEFA Europe League communication has been adapted for the deaf people (with the translation)
The highlight was on the day of the match, when we translated the live streaming football commentator into sign language and after the match we translated the press conference as well.
Match live streaming events were organized in 3 cities.
More than 100 deaf people, along with their relatives, watched the live broadcast at the mentioned events.
The idea has reached over 1000 online shares and 1 5M impressions.
Some deaf people watched football for the first time and asked if there would be any such broadcasts with translation.
And I guess, we made it louder ?
#MakeItLouder – #MadeItLouder
Huddersfield Town Football Club
Huddersfield Town’s ‘Keep It Up’ campaign is a unique and innovative CSR partnership between the football club and the Yorkshire Air Ambulance which aims to raise funds for the lifesaving charity as well as for other deserving local causes.
The campaign has just celebrated its 10th year and has just broken the £2million barrier with the completion of the Club’s tenth annual fundraising ‘Pedal for Pounds’ bike ride, and the hugely successful ‘Wilson Walk’ events in the 2018/19 season.
In addition to raising funds, the campaign and its events have engaged hundreds of Town supporters of all different ages, abilities and backgrounds to get on their bikes, get walking, get fit, raise money and make friends. Moreover, it has successfully engaged our local business community to undertake their own CSR activities.
At Huddersfield Town Football Club we have never lost sight of the important role we play in our community and being able to impact so many lives through this campaign is something we are incredibly proud of.
Leicester City Football Club & De Montfort University
In 2018, Leicester City signed a new agreement with De Montfort University, making DMU the Foxes’ Official Higher Education Partner for the next four years.
In light of the extended agreement, the Club wanted to demonstrate the strong relationship that exists between the organisations.
While the strengthening of Leicester City’s partnership with DMU was an indicator of the Club’s desire to be at the forefront of positive work for both the people and businesses of Leicester, it needed to be showing this materially through worthwhile initiatives alongside the university.
Leicester City, therefore, offered to assist the university with their Clearing process through the help of some of its players.
The ‘feel good’ initiative involved Foxes stars Wilfred Ndidi, Ricardo Pereira and Layton Ndukwu surprising new students with a call to welcome them to Leicester after they had attained their place at DMU.
New students were offered tickets to games by the players as a means of welcoming them to the city, reinforcing the Club’s positive role within the community to the watching press.
Following the initiative, the university offered academic ‘sampler’ courses to City personnel, plus the option of intensive English Language sessions for the Club’s overseas players.
QPR in the Community Trust, with West London Health Partnership, Hammersmith & Fulham CCG and CommaGB
QPR in the Community Trust and West London Health Partnership teamed up to deliver a CSR campaign with a difference – using the power of the iconic football team to help tackle local NHS pressures.
Working with Hammersmith and Fulham CCG and the sports and health marketing agency CommaGB, the team devised a two-month campaign that saw the stars of the club creatively raise awareness of the correct NHS choices. With 12 unique videos, extensive matchday promotion, and a showcase across all local club and NHS channels, it offered the NHS an unprecedented platform to engage the public.
Generating more than 100,000 views, important new community partnerships and new methods for NHS marketing, it made a profound impact.
Dr Paul Skinner, of Hammersmith and Fulham CCG, said: “For a project to achieve 100,000 video views is very special and shows the unique reach of the Club. By raising awareness of the services provided in the community, we were able to help people to understand that A&E isn’t always the answer.
