Barclays 2005 Annual Report Download - page 18

Barclays PLC
Annual Report 2005
16
The health and safety of our employees is
paramount. Across our African operations we
have a comprehensive HIV/AIDS programme.
We provide counselling, testing, and medical
treatment including anti-retroviral drugs to our
employees and their dependants. We make a
positive effort to create a supportive working
environment for everyone, and our human
resources policies have been reviewed to
ensure they do not discriminate on the
grounds of HIV status.
In the UK we were ranked 8th in the Race for
Opportunity benchmark, 20th in Stonewall’s
Workplace Equality Index (7th highest
ranking private sector company) and 27th
in the Employers Forum on Disability
benchmarking exercise.
Community Investment
As a responsible bank it is vital to us that we
invest in the communities where we operate,
and ensure that our funding makes a positive
impact. Our community work is based on
partnerships: we offer expertise and staff
time, as well as financial investment, while
our partners provide specialised knowledge
and experience. We are a member of the
PerCent Club – a group of companies that
have undertaken to ensure that donations to
the community over time amount to at least
1% of their UK pre-tax profit.
We encourage our employees to volunteer
time to community activities and raise
money for their favourite charities. In 2005,
27,000 Barclays employees and pensioners
received support for fundraising or
volunteering. When our people raise money
for charity we match the amount raised up
to a set maximum. The amount raised in
2005, including the Barclays matched
element, came to £13.8m.
Our biggest international community story
in 2005 was Barclays Miles Ahead, a five-
month sponsored overland expedition
from London to Cape Town that united
our UK, European and African community
programmes across 13 countries. Along the
route, Barclays staff raised funds for charity
and volunteered in their communities, and
some joined the truck’s professional crew.
In all, over 7,000 employees took part in
the fundraising events, which ranged from
football events for disadvantaged children
in France, to building homes with Habitat
for Humanity in Uganda, to helping AIDS
orphans in Zimbabwe.
In the UK, Barclays Spaces for Sports is
our largest project, with £30m being
invested over three years in creating and
regenerating 150 sports sites, and providing
coaching kit to groups across the country.
Barclays Spaces for Sports is a grassroots
counterpart to our sponsorship of the
Barclays Premiership, with 21 flagship
community sports sites being created with
Premiership clubs such as Liverpool and
Tottenham Hotspur.
Accountability
We hold dialogue throughout the year
with shareholders, politicians and NGOs.
Our progress is reflected through ethical
index and corporate governance surveys
and, primarily through our annual Corporate
Responsibility report, available online and
in print.
The 2005 Corporate Responsibility report
contains more detailed information on
our activities and will be available from
27th April 2005.
Corporate responsibility continued