Community

The Group endeavours to contribute to the communities in which it operates particularly those neighbouring its sites. SIG is a member of Business in the Community in the UK and has worked with that organisation to help to develop its approach and practices. This is mainly achieved through charitable donations and other initiatives that help the community.

2009 saw the second year for which SIG Insulations was the main sponsor for the Sheffield Half Marathon event, which raised a record breaking £95,000 for good causes.

The HR Director has responsibility for community issues within the Group and reports to the Chief Executive who is responsible for community issues at Board level.

DONATIONS

During the year the Group made donations of £138,000 (2008: £193,000). It is the Group’s policy not to make political donations and no political donations were made in the year (2008: £nil).

The Group has a Charitable Donations Policy. The policy, in addition to supporting local causes where SIG employees are involved, is to provide support for three main charities for a period of three years. For the three years commencing January 2008 the three main charities that the Group will be supporting are Henshaws College, http://www.henshaws.org.uk (a charity working with young people, all of whom are visually impaired with additional disabilities), Action For Kids, http://www.actionforkids.org (a national charity working with disabled children and young people, their parents and carers) and St Lazarus Hospice, http://www.hospicjum.krakow.pl (a charity providing assistance for terminally ill individuals and help and support for families in Krakow, Poland).

During 2009, SIG’s donation funded a Henshaws College Volunteer Co ordinator to facilitate the running of a volunteer service, that has been able to recruit, train and support volunteers who help people affected by sight loss to reach their true potential in life.

Through SIG’s support Henshaws College now has 68 regular volunteers with specific roles, who during 2009 generously gave 6,200 hours of their time to help support the work of Henshaws Yorkshire. Volunteers can learn about volunteering opportunities and are able to have training sessions, such as visual impairment awareness, sighted guides and health and safety for visually impaired people. This training has enabled new and existing volunteers to work safely and effectively.

2009 saw the second year of SIG’s partnership with Action For Kids, a national charity working to create independence, provide opportunities and offer support to disabled children, young people and their families all around the UK.

During 2009, SIG’s funding continued to allow disabled young people to receive relevant training programmes focusing on office skills and preparation for entering the workplace. In addition access to SIG’s E-Learning programme was made available to the charity enabling employees to enhance their computer based skills.

2009 was the second year of the Group’s support of the St Lazarus Hospice in Krakow, Poland, which was nominated by European employees. SIG’s support during the year enabled essential building repairs to be completed, modifications of the air supply system and the purchase of vital equipment such as Pulse Oximeters and anti-bedsore mattresses.

Staff are kept informed of charitable activities and are encouraged to attend events as appropriate, as a means of encouraging them to be personally associated with charitable work and in particular with the causes supported by the Group. This has included sponsorship for individuals entering specific events and support in kind for building projects.

The Group has in place a Payroll Giving Scheme, which is available to all UK employees. Employees are free to choose one of the current SIG sponsored charities listed above or any other charity of their choice. Despite the challenges faced during the year donations of £25,682 were made through the scheme an increase of 53% on the previous year.

For further information see the SIG Charitable Donations Policy