Fish4 has been presented with the Government’s Gold Payroll Giving Award because of its Workplace Giving scheme which enables employees to contribute directly to the charity of their choice via their salaries, therefore making it tax free.
fish4 re-launched the Workplace Giving scheme in July 2008 and increased the number of contributing employees to 25%, raising nearly £5000 per year for over 40 charities including Cancer Research UK, Amnesty International and Pattaya Orphanage in Thailand.
The National average of the number of employees within companies who contribute through their salaries tax free is a staggering 2.6%.
Peter O’Hara from Workplace Giving UK, comments:
“We are delighted that fish4 has re-launched the scheme and therefore increased the amount of employees who now contribute in this way and because of this excellent result they have received the Government’s Gold Payroll Giving Quality Mark.
“Workplace Giving is the most tax effective way to give money to charity, and our aim is to give an extra 1 million employees access to the scheme within the next 12 months”
As a further improvement to their CSR status, fish4 has also partnered with Hammersmith and Fulham Volunteer Centre.
The Employee Supported Scheme will allow fish4 employees to mentor teenagers in the community and help people find work by helping them with CV writing, presentation planning and interview techniques.
Marion Schumann, Director of the Volunteer Centre, confirms:
“There are many organisations working in partnership with the Hammersmith & Fulham Volunteer Centre, and we are delighted that fish4 are coming on board. The opportunities for companies to support their local community are endless and the results can be very satisfying for all involved.
“Employers get to demonstrate their commitment to CSR, members of staff get to build bridges with the community and with each other, while the recipients of their help get the kind of assistance that would never otherwise be available to them.
“The Volunteer Centre is confident that fish4 will enjoy all the benefits of employee volunteering, and we very much look forward to working with them.”
Anne Egleton, Chief People Officer at fish4 comments:
“fish4 has been making many changes to become an employer of choice and we were delighted to be awarded the Gold Award from Geared for Giving following our recent re-launch of the scheme to the company. Our recent partnership with Hammersmith and Fulham Volunteer Centre means we can offer our employees’ skills and time within the local community.
“In this day and age more companies should be working with charitable and voluntary organisations to increase community awareness, and fish4 are proud to be embarking on so many new and exciting team building challenges “.
She adds,
“Additionally, a group of fish4 employees have launched an Environmental Impact Committee with the aim of reducing our company carbon footprint by 10% in the next 12 months. This will be achieved by introducing energy saving and recycling initiatives and encouraging car pooling and bicycle purchase schemes, for example”
Further afield, fish4 are working with digital Growth a not-for-profit organisation which offers a free recycling service to donors. digital Growth is committed to providing communities both nationally and abroad with cheaper access to IT.
fish4 are donating IT equipment to community projects through Digital Growth to foster greater educational and economic opportunities.
Harry Majid, Director from digital Growth adds:
“Organisations such as fish4 help impoverished communities enormously by donating old IT equipment. Rather than throwing them away we can re-use the computers providing people with essential access to technology that we in the developed world take for granted.
“It doesn’t cost companies any money to donate old equipment, it’s also very safe as all data is wiped exceeding standards set by the U.S. Department of Defence as well as all European directives and is much better than simply throwing them away”.
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