Peachtree 2012 Annual Report Download - page 49

Giving our time
Organisations tell us that Sage volunteers are important to their
business. Our employees tell us that our volunteering programme
is a chance to share their skills and experience with charities or
local bodies that reect our commitment to education, the
community and the environment. It is also a personal development
opportunity for our people, some of whom take extra paid leave to
volunteer. In North America for example, Employee Volunteer Day
Benet is offered so our people can take a day off to volunteer for
a local charity. 111 people exercised their right to a volunteer day
this year which amounted to a total of 850 hours donated.
In Europe, volunteering in Spain takes place during working hours
and the UK offers our people two days per year to volunteer. This
year, UK staff gave more than 3,800 hours to many good causes,
including 1,000 hours working with more than 200 children as part
of the Right to Read literacy programme.
Helping charities
Every year our employees all around the world take the same day
every July to celebrate “Sage Day”. The day is an opportunity to
raise money for charity and get involved in local communities
where they work.
In the UK alone, employees raised £60,000 for a national cancer
charity. In North America, employees again gave through our
“Giving is Living” payroll programme last year. Sage matched their
contributions by 50% to give a total of $93,810 to charities. Our
North America employees also support local charities close to
their ofces through initiatives including food bank volunteer
programmes and working in local schools.
As well as raising funds, sometimes a relatively small effort can
make a big difference. For example, our US and Canada
employees gave away nearly 4,000 unwanted pieces of business
clothing to local charity donation centres.
In Spain, our employees turned a major ofce move into an
opportunity to work with community groups in Barcelona. They
donated old ofce furniture and equipment to charities and hired in
catering services from a foundation that employs disabled people.
Investing in young people
Supporting young people often from disadvantaged backgrounds
is an important focus for us. We concentrate on their education and
helping them with vital life and business skills.
We provide educational bursaries across our locations. We also
design and run internal undergraduate and internship programmes
to give young people the chance to succeed academically while
considering their careers.
This year in Poland we sponsored a competition for gifted young
scientists concentrating on algorithms and computer science.
In Spain, we ran a summer training programme to introduce
unemployed 16 to 24-year-olds to the workplace, and also
supported “e-skills week”, where 13-year-old students visited
the ofce and learned about future career skills.
In South Africa, our people volunteer their time to help to equip
school children from disadvantaged backgrounds with essential life
and business skills before they leave school. We also work closely
there with a local charity involved in six of the most impoverished
communities to help disadvantaged and vulnerable children.
Investing in young people is also an important focus for our UK
teams, where 12 apprentices aged between 17 and 20 years old
are working in the business to help them learn essential
businessskills.
We want our involvement in local communities to be more than about business, so our
Corporate Responsibility policy empowers each operating company to set their own
targets and goals where they know locally that it will really make a difference. No Group
level requirements are set for Community. This is because we truly want to make the
communities in which we trade better places to be. So, if we can make a positive contribution
we will – through fundraising, sponsorship or giving our time.
Corporate Responsibility
Community
Overview
Performance
GovernanceFinancial statements
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The Sage Group plc | Annual Report & Accounts 2012