We support employees who want to make a difference in their community

Our charity partnerships and other projects are designed to encourage employees at every level to get involved.

We think their efforts, through fundraising and volunteering, demonstrate a collective will to make people’s lives better. This also enhances our reputation as a responsible business and helps us to develop our employees’ skills and crucially, their understanding of our customers.

Our employee involvement revolves around three programmes:

• Volunteering
• Payroll Giving
• Charity Top up

We also try to help those who hold community responsibilities in their own right. Several employees are school governors, work on charity boards or hold local council offices, and we try to offer some paid time off for them to carry out their duties.

Volunteering

We want to enable our employees to make a personal difference in the community through volunteering.

We choose our charity partnerships with this in mind, encouraging involvement in schools, with young people and in local projects.

During the year a total of 547 employees volunteered their time to social causes, equating to £1,466 in paid hours at a rate of £20 an hour.

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Payroll Giving

Payroll Giving is an easy way for employees to support their favourite charities by donating regularly through the payroll. In December 2007 around three per cent of all employees subscribed to this scheme. In total, Telefónica O2 UK employees gave £90,958 (Jan-Dec) through the Payroll Giving scheme in 2007. This compares with £85,753 in 2006. Contributions are exempt from tax and include a further 20 per cent donation from Telefónica Europe PLC.

In 2006 we introduced a new way for employees to give to charity through our Pennies from Heaven scheme. An individual’s monthly salary is rounded down to the nearest pound and the spare pennies donated to Telefonica O2 UK's chosen charity. During the year, £2,302 was raised.

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Charity Top-up

We encourage employees to give time and imagination to their own fundraising efforts too.

Charity Top-up supports all our fundraising activities, including those personally supported by individuals or teams.

O2 UK matches funds raised by up to a total of £350 for an individual or £1,500 for a team.

The total amount raised through Charity Top-Up  during the financial year was £165,313. This includes employee donations and Telefónica O2 UK matched funds.

O2 Community Awards

We want to recognise employees who work tirelessly for charity or their communities. We know their work often demonstrates a passion for people and places that far exceeds expectations in the workplace.

O2 launched the Community Awards in 2004 and held the fourth event, at The O2, in October 2007.  Over 200 guests from O2, Telefónica, charities and non-Governmental organisations heard some emotional accounts of charitable work supported by our employees.

This year the accolades were presented in three categories, with finalists representing all Telefónica Europe operating businesses:

The winners all received a £5,000 donation from O2 for their chosen charity. Fellow finalists – 10 in all – received £1,000 each for their charities.

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