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| We believe that companies that respond to the needs of the communities in which they operate are more likely to succeed. |
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External view: "The Telecomputer bus project, for which Manx Telecom is the biggest sponsor, offers whole classes of children and their teachers an important way to build their ICT skills. On arrival the bus connects to the school's network to offer a really integrated approach where work created on board is saved directly back on the school's server. Since being launched in 1998, it has helped introduce many exciting projects and it has made a significant contribution to ICT skills across the Island."
John Thornely, Information & Communications Technology Adviser, Dept of Education, Isle of Man
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We believe that we can play an important role in tackling social needs by providing innovative products and services that our customers want, and by giving back knowledge, experience and resources in ways that benefit many more.
Community involvement is important, demonstrating that we look beyond narrow self-interest and that our brand and technology have lasting relevance to society. In turn, a commitment to the community helps to protect and enhance our reputation and to motivate and retain our employees. Our local communities constitute local residents where we have communication masts, towns and cities that host our offices and where we recruit employees, our customers and other individuals and organisations who can benefit from mobile communications wider afield.
We particularly look to support initiatives where mobile services can be used to tackle social needs and where our employees can become involved. Our efforts focus on the 'Can Do in the Community' programme we launched in 2002.
Our approach
In each of our markets we have identified key community issues that we want to address through our community involvement. Before the launch of our 'Can Do in the Community' programme employees were asked to identify key issues they thought important and also to vote for the charity of choice. This process was supported by a MORI survey that canvassed the opinion of the British public to community involvement. In consequence each of our operating businesses has adopted its own approach to community involvement, however, the overriding theme is focused around youth. We continue to monitor our approach through regular internal and external surveys, which will be discussed at Group-wide Corporate Responsibility Forum meetings.
In 2003/04 we made £427,000 charitable donations in cash to community initiatives, of which £192,000 was spent in the UK. In total we contributed £1.7 million in charitable sponsorships and in-kind contributions across the Group. Through our recent membership of the London Benchmarking Group (LBG) we continue to improve our initiatives and learn from our peers. In 2004/05 we aim to improve our measurement and reporting on community involvement through the LBG benchmarking model. A detailed breakdown of our community involvement according to the LBG methodology can be reviewed through chart 4 below.
Focusing on youth
Last year, as a Group, we chose to help young people overcome disadvantage, escape crime and gain access to better opportunities. Our employees voted the International Youth Foundation (IYF) as the Group's Charity of the Year and we set up projects supporting IYF in each of our operating countries. This year we will measure the short-term effects of these.
O2 Germany sponsored SCHOLA-21, an interactive learning and information system providing a technological network for students, schools and their teachers to improve project work. SCHOLA-21 is part of the German Children and Youth Foundation's work to strengthen self-confidence in young people. It particularly focuses on building civic responsibility and entrepreneurship, and on combating intolerance and violence.
In Ireland the charity of choice is the Irish Youth Foundation, which aims to make a lasting difference to the lives of disadvantaged children. O2 Ireland sponsored the Communications and Information Technology for Youth (CITY) project to upgrade an internet café in Dublin's Ballymun area with new computers, supervised e-mail and internet surfing, and help in funding an IT trainer for 10-19 year-olds.
Ireland also supported Children's Hour in association with the Irish Youth Foundation. This scheme invites employees to donate one hour's pay to support educational and social projects for disadvantaged young people. 202 employees from our Irish business supported the scheme.
The UK project is Safe Moves. This pilot programme organised by The Foyer Federation and the UK Government's Connexions service aims to reduce homelessness in young people by improving life skills, independence and employability. Launched in September 2003, O2 UK is providing funds and volunteering support from our call centre in Leeds.
Employee involvement
Our employees continued to give their time and imagination to a range of fundraising schemes. Group-wide, we launched our 'Can Do Matching' programme in April 2003, matching each employee's fundraising by up to £350. Funds for charitable causes were raised in various ways including trekking in Nepal and custard pie throwing on the Isle of Man. Take-up has gained momentum and, to date, we have had 112 applications from individuals and teams, supported 91 charities and together contributed £110,000 to charitable causes.
We also enhanced our UK-only 'Can Do Giving' Scheme. This promises 20 per cent extra funding for every £1 donated by employees through payroll. During the year it raised almost £95,000 for a wide range of charities. We have set a target to increase the employee contribution through 'Can Do Giving' by 25 per cent.
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| Our approach | Focusing on youth | Employee involvement | Mobile services benefiting the community | LBG statement |
Mobile services benefiting the community
Last year we reported a groundbreaking trial of a new asthma monitoring solution in the Thames Valley region of the UK. We provided funding, technical support, Xda combined mobile phones and computers and network capacity to record the breathing of asthma sufferers accurately, using and an electronic peak flow meter attached to the Xda from O2. Our partner in this project was e-San.
This solution helped the 94 participants, aged between 12 and 55, to monitor their own breathing and alert their doctors when an asthma attack threatened.
We were particularly aiming to encourage regular self-monitoring and are pleased to report that 65 per cent of people in the trial did comply, compared with less than 50 per cent of sufferers monitoring themselves in normal ways. With 100 per cent electronic accuracy, the trial aimed to alert doctors to adverse readings, so that they could intervene quickly and warn patients of the need to treat themselves.
Overall, 78 per cent of trial participants said they were satisfied or very satisfied with the system, while the same proportion agreed that the solution improved their monitoring abilities. Nearly 60 per cent said their symptoms improved as a result. We are now awaiting analysis from doctors, covering nearly 11,000 readings, and we expect scientific appraisal to be published in medical journals.
We have now launched a second project with e-San Ltd to help cystic fibrosis sufferers. This illness is different because it involves primary care. Our trial is with the Bristol Royal Infirmary and will run across England and South Wales to help reduce the need for hospital admission and to significantly decrease the cost of the illness to the National Health Service.
The LBG model helps businesses to improve the management, measurement and reporting of their corporate community involvement programmes. It moves beyond charitable donations to include the full range of contributions (in time, in kind and in cash) made to community causes, and assesses the actual results for the community and for the business. (See www.lbg-online.net for more information)
As managers of the Group, we have worked with mmO2 plc [O2] to review its understanding of the LBG model and its application to the wide range of community programmes. Our aim has been to ensure that the evaluation principles are correctly and consistently applied. Having conducted an assessment, we are satisfied this has been achieved. Our work has not extended to an independent audit of the data.
This is the first year that O2 has applied the model. The company has made commendable progress in accurately calculating the costs of its community contribution (inputs) and in starting to assess what the programme is achieving, in terms of additional resources attracted (leverage), community benefits and the business case (outputs and impacts). Going forward, one challenge is to extend this evaluation to include the full range of employee involvement options.
In reviewing the programme this year, we were also impressed by the way the company has formed charity partnerships to explore new ways of applying its technology to benefit people in need, notably on cystic fibrosis and asthma. By engaging the business in this way, the concept of 'community contribution' moves away from narrow cash donations and the ability of the company to make a real difference is enhanced.
The Corporate Citizenship Company
www.corporate-citizenship.co.uk
30 June 2004.
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| Our approach | Focusing on youth | Employee involvement | Mobile services benefiting the community | LBG statement |
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| CHILD PROTECTION |
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| Find out what we are doing to help young people to use their phones safely > |
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| Do you think youth is the right focus for our community programmes? |
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| The amount we contributed to charitable causes in 2003/04 in direct funding and in-kind donations. |
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