Aviva 2006 Annual Report Download - page 71

Overview Business review Governance Financial statements Other information
Aviva plc
Annual Report and Accounts 2006 67
Community
Weare committed to working in partnership with the communities
in which we operate. In 2006, we invested £6.3 million in
community initiatives worldwide. Our investment includes 34,000
hours of staff volunteering.
Our forward thinking approach is reflected in our support for
numerous community initiatives around the group.
In September 2006, Aviva became one of the founding partners
of Oxfam’s 365 Alliance. This unique alliance enables corporate
donors to fund Oxfam’s initial response operations that will enable it
to immediately deal with disasters whenever and wherever they
occur around the world. This includes a global rapid response team
of aid workers and the UK’s biggest warehouse with a stockpile of
emergency supplies.
Wesupported two Breakthrough Breast Cancer walks in the UK
to help raise money and awareness for this very worthy cause.
Aviva Canada supported a similar event by hosting “ pit stops” in
seven Canadian cities during The Weekend to End Breast Cancer.
Looking ahead
Our business units have defined local challenges and relevant issues
in their market environments. Across the group, we will continue to
embed CSR and to identify suitable initiatives that will help to
develop and progress this agenda.
iLeading the way
in micro-finance
In India, we continue to build on our partnerships
with leading development finance institutions.
These institutions excel in the provision of micro-
financial services to the underprivileged section of
Indian society. To date we have covered over 650,000
lives in the social sector.
Morley’ssocially responsible investment (SRI) team also
supports micro-finance initiatives. It participated in the
successful raising of $60 million from investors in the
UK, Europe and the US to lend to micro-finance
institutions (MFIs) for a period of five years. MFIs
provide people with small collateral-free loans at
reasonable interest rates. Specifically, Morley purchased
a$1.5 million note for one of Norwich Union's
sustainable future funds, which helped create the
foundation for the entire structure. This initiative will
finance approximately 300,000 micro-loans in Latin
America, eastern Europe and southeast Asia over the
five year life of the structure
UFor more information on our CSR programmes visit
www.aviva.com/csr
iSponsorship of
breast cancer events –
UK and Canada
In line with the spirit of our “ Forward thinking” campaign,
we supported two major events in 2006 with the shared
vision of a future free from the fear of breast cancer.
In seven cities across Canada last summer,we were
national sponsors of “ The Weekend to End Breast
Cancer” , which saw thousands of people take part in
fundraising walks. We sponsored a “ pit stop” in each
city – designated places along the 60km course where
walkers could rest briefly during their trek. The stops
were staffed by Aviva volunteers, friends and family,
and £27 million was raised in total by the event.
In the UK in September, we were title sponsor of
the Aviva Weekend to Breakthrough Breast Cancer.
In London and Birmingham, morethan 2,000 walkers
raised a total of £5.3 million from the two events.
Our staff were among the hundreds of volunteers who
gave their time to help with tents, serve meals and
distribute water and goodie bags to the walkers.
It was very gratifying that so much money was raised
by these events on both sides of the Atlantic to help
fund research into ways of combating breast cancer.
UFor moreinformation on our CSR programmes visit
www.aviva.com/csr