Prudential in the community

Our employees get involved in their local communities through Prudential initiatives, local charities and community groups. For example, a team spending a day transforming a community group's outside space develops teamwork and gives something back. We are aiming for 40% of our employees to be involved in their local communities and we give them time to do so. In 2010 we had over 29% of our employees involved in volunteering giving over 6000 hours of work time.

Through our Employee Volunteering Awards (EVA), teams and individuals who have shown outstanding volunteering and exceptional fundraising receive £1,000 for their charity or community group. Beneficiaries have included Cancer Research UK, the Anthony Nolan Bone Marrow Trust and Lynn's Bowel Cancer Campaign and the Tayavalla Family support centre in Falkirk. Since launching these awards we have three times as many volunteers.

Prudential support Business in the Community's "Give and Gain" day which mobilises employees to volunteer their expertise and time during work hours to support communities in greatest need.

Since May 2009 Prudential employees have volunteered to take part in "A Call in time" programme run by Age UK to befriend older people over the phone. Research has shown that older people really value the calls and that they have a positive impact on an older person's physical and mental health, including reducing depression and delaying their admission to a care home. Volunteers have spoken about how the programme can build their interpersonal skills as well as their appreciation of some of the issues that older people face. In our first year we were aiming for 50 employees to get involved and had over 80 commit to the regular telephone calling. Now we are in Year 3 we are aiming for 120 employees.

We are also working with Age UK on a project that provides information and advice to vulnerable older people who may be facing a significant life event.

Paul Farthing from Age UK said: "The extension of Age UK's key partnership with Prudential means that we can reach more older people who need face-to-face financial advice and our information booklets to help them make important decisions about their future. Age UK is grateful for Prudential's continued support, helping us in our vision to improve later life for all."

Our volunteering programme includes mentoring, reading and business awareness programmes with local schools. We have worked with the Specialist School and Academies Trust (SSAT) since 2004 to develop 'Adding up to a Lifetime'. This is an interactive resource to help teach financial capability to young people aged 13 to16. This supports the aims of the UK government's 'Every Child Matters' agenda and the new secondary curriculum.

We are National Champions on Business in the Community's "Business Class" programme leading the work in Reading and setting up the model in Scotland.

We encourage charitable giving by making it easy and tax-efficient for employees to donate direct from their pay to any charitable organisation in the UK. We will match these donations under agreed terms and conditions. We aim to achieve the National Payroll Giving Gold Quality Mark and are pleased to say that with over ten percent of our employees currently donating, we have maintained that level for the last 10 years. Donations in 2010 totalled over £160,000 and we were shortlisted for the National Payroll Giving Awards.

We have a Prudential fund set up with the Berkshire Community Foundation and the Scottish Community Foundation which aims to benefit local groups making a difference to retirement.