Communities: O2 UK
Reaching far and wide with Weston Spirit
O2 UK officially launched its three-year partnership with Weston Spirit at the House of Commons in June, 2005.
We aim to support the charity's work around personal development programmes for youth at risk.
Weston Spirit is co-founded by Simon Weston OBE, whose experiences as a young man and in the Falklands War inspired him to work with young people with limited opportunities.
The partnership centres on Just Ask Me, JAM, a peer-support project that brings together Weston Spirit, O2 employees and mobile phone technology to help young people’s personal development in schools.
Weston Spirit trains our mentor volunteers to provide sixth-form pupils with the skills to become mentors themselves and support younger pupils in their own school.
The scheme was piloted last year with more than 90 employees, working in four O2 locations - Bury, Merseyside, Leeds and Slough.
During the year Simon Weston visited O2 offices to describe the charity and explain its work. A further 100 employee mentors were recruited to the scheme.
In all, nearly 900 O2 employees and young people are involved in JAM across seven schools.
O2 UK’s charity partner, Weston Spirit, has worked with more than 70,000 young people.
Life Line Challenge
O2 UK launched a sponsored 'Race to Madrid' in January 2006.
Exercise bikes were positioned in all UK offices and we invited teams to compete to cover the furthest distance in one hour. Over 1,000 employees took part, not over covering the 5,000 km from Glasgow to Madrid and back, but riding far enough to get back to Spain again.
O2 UK’s CEO Matthew Key and Simon Weston launch Race to Madrid
Pennies from Heaven
Proceeds from the new Pennies from Heaven payroll-based fundraising scheme - enabling employees to donate the small change from their monthly gross salaries – are also going to Weston Spirit. In its first two months up to March 2006, 232 employees had already joined the scheme.
QCA recognised
O2 and Weston Spirit have been recognised by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority, after its research into schools' mentoring put it in touch with the scheme at Derby High School, near Bury.
“The programme is the best example I have seen anywhere of a mainstream setting achieving radical and positive change…which impacts systematically on both school culture, families and the local community.”
Qualifications and Curriculum Authority researcher
