Our communities
Strategic philanthropy, volunteering and pro bono
We strengthen charities and community groups by supporting them with funds and expertise, so they can do more.
Supporting our communities
The cost of living crisis is affecting the most disadvantaged groups across all our communities, and it is having an especially significant impact on the charity sector.
As part of our values, we have a responsibility to the communities we serve. We鈥檙e proud of the support our people give to help our communities and we offer all of our colleagues up to six days of volunteering time. Colleagues can take part in centrally organised programmes such as supporting a school or local charity, becoming a Charity Trustee or School Governor, or they can support a cause they are personally passionate about through a self-organised activity. Many colleagues also choose to volunteer for our national charity.
Our National Charity Partnership with Marie Curie
In 2021, our colleagues selected Marie Curie as 乐鱼（Leyu）体育官网鈥檚 National Charity Partner, initially until October 2023. Then, in recognition of the cost of living crisis, we took the decision to extend the partnership by a year, until September 2024, enabling colleagues to continue providing support through challenging times.
We鈥檙e really proud that over the course of our three-year partnership with Marie Curie, we exceeded our commitment to raise 拢1m for the charity, by providing 拢2.6m worth of support in total, including 拢1.868尘 in fundraising and donations (enough to fund 81,217 Marie Curie nursing hours), as well as over 拢661,000 worth of pro bono.*
Total funds raised for Marie Curie / 拢1.868尘
FY22 - FY24
Number of nursing care hours our funds raised could help to support / 81,217
FY22 - FY24
During our time together you have raised an astonishing amount to support the people we serve. You have delivered impactful and high-quality pro bono and thought leadership pieces which will vastly improve the lives of families across the UK at the end of life. And you鈥檝e shared your skills with us, providing Marie Curie colleagues with invaluable opportunities to learn, grow, and innovate.
Thank you to each and every one of you. Your contributions will have a profound impact on the lives of so many people affected by terminal illness for yours to come. We are so grateful.
Matthew Reed / Chief Executive, Marie Curie
Fundraising
Every pound raised over the three years has supported families across the UK affected by terminal illness, providing hands-on care and vital emotional support at one of the most critical times in their lives.
乐鱼（Leyu）体育官网鈥檚 vital support has funded core national services that support people affected by dying, death and bereavement, such as Marie Curie鈥檚 Hospice Care at Home service.
Total value of pro
bono time / 拢661,078 FY22 鈥� FY24
bono time / 拢661,078 FY22 鈥� FY24
Number of colleagues who鈥檝e given their time to support Marie Curie / 9,426
FY22 鈥� FY24
*In addition to fundraising, donations and pro bono support, the value of total support provided to Marie Curie includes additional provision, such as the value of in-kind contributions.
Pro bono
Since the beginning, the 乐鱼（Leyu）体育官网 and Marie Curie partnership was about more than raising significant funds. We supported our colleagues to use their professional skills and expertise to help bring Marie Curie closer to achieving their strategic objective of closing the gap in end-of-life care.
Volunteering
Volunteering has been at the heart of the 乐鱼（Leyu）体育官网 and Marie Curie partnership. 乐鱼（Leyu）体育官网 employees have dedicated countless hours to furthering Marie Curie鈥檚 mission, from participating in the Top of the Shops challenge to sharing our professional skills with Marie Curie colleagues.
Thought Leadership
Throughout the partnership, we have aimed to use the collective voice and skills of 乐鱼（Leyu）体育官网 and Marie Curie to ensure that current end-of-life care, services and support networks reach the highest standards.
One example of this was a piece of work we conducted which explored the cost of energy for households across the UK with a terminally ill person. We wanted to understand the opportunities and gaps that exist and identify any initiatives which could help households with a terminally ill member manage their energy costs.
乐鱼（Leyu）体育官网鈥檚 Research Teams conducted research to highlight the financial challenges and barriers faced by terminally ill individuals and their families in accessing palliative care.
乐鱼（Leyu）体育官网鈥檚 research found that the financial impact of a terminal illness diagnosis can be huge, with soaring energy prices compounding the cost of running medical devices in the home. This research led to Marie Curie's "One Charge Too Many" report and initiated conversations with the Department of Health and Social Care to ensure that the terminally ill receive the necessary support to combat fuel poverty.
Introducing our New National Charity Partnership with FareShare
In April, we opened applications in search of our next National Charity Partner. Following a rigorous shortlisting process, we gave colleagues the opportunity to vote and the winner was FareShare. FareShare is the UK鈥檚 largest charity tackling the environmental problem of food waste for social good. They save food which would otherwise go to waste and redistribute it to local communities through a network of 35 regional sites across the UK.
FareShare provides surplus food to over 8,000 charities and community groups, who transform this food into parcels and meals to feed nearly 1 million people. These organisations also offer holistic support services aimed at addressing the causes of food poverty, helping people overcome mental health challenges, domestic abuse situations, unemployment and more.
For every 拢1 we raise through our partnership, FareShare will be able to redistribute the equivalent of five meals to those who need it most.
Our new National Charity Partnership with FareShare launched in October 2024 and will run until September 2027.
Governance for Better
At 乐鱼（Leyu）体育官网, we have long been encouraging all our colleagues, irrespective of grade, to take up governance volunteering roles such as charity trustees and school governors through our Governance for Better programme, because we recognise the value that all 乐鱼（Leyu）体育官网 colleagues can bring to these roles, and similarly, the value they can all get out. In recent years, our Governance for Better programme has been developed even further to enhance the support we have given to these colleagues since the start of the pandemic. We recognise how valuable our colleagues have been in helping schools, colleges and charities to come back stronger. The enhanced programme features a series of webinars from industry experts, information and recruitment sessions for those considering taking on such a role, peer to peer networking events, in addition to latest news, support and guidance.
Supporting emergency appeals
We respond to global emergencies via immediate fundraising appeals, which the firm and colleagues contribute to.
拢85,000 towards flood relief in Pakistan via the British Red Cross
September 2022
拢140,000 to UNICEF鈥檚 Ukraine Emergency Appeal.
March 2022
拢123,000 towards the British Red Cross鈥檚 Syria & Turkey Earthquake Appeal
February 2023
乐鱼（Leyu）体育官网 Foundation
The 乐鱼（Leyu）体育官网 Foundation works with others to improve the lives of the most vulnerable children and young people in the UK, so they are safe, healthy, happy and learning.
The 乐鱼（Leyu）体育官网 Foundation, created in 2000, is an independent charity supported by 乐鱼（Leyu）体育官网. It shares a passion for promoting social mobility and achieving long-term change, wherever possible. It marks its 25th anniversary this year.
The Foundation makes grants to selected partners to improve the life chances of some of the UK鈥檚 most vulnerable children and young people. Current priorities are care experienced children, and the early years.
The charity invests in:
- new ideas or organisations: START UP
- work with emerging evidence, to help sustain or scale: STEP UP
- collaborations for influencing policy and systems change: STEP TOGETHER
- filling gaps in knowledge, where findings can be put into practice: ACTIONABLE RESEARCH
The charity鈥檚 trustees make decisions about where the Foundation can add most value, drawing on their personal and professional experience in 乐鱼（Leyu）体育官网, in academia and from working with communities, families, children and young people.
Focusing on a child鈥檚 early years as the foundation for good development
Our priorities at the 乐鱼（Leyu）体育官网 Foundation are on:
- children and young people with experience of the care system and;
- babies and under 5鈥檚 living in vulnerable families and communities.
A good start in life will determine future health and happiness. Physical and emotional nurturing is essential from birth, and babies deprived of these essentials in their first few years will fail to thrive. Evidence is available to show that 1 in 3 children fail to meet the standards of the 鈥樷� when they arrive at school.
We recently worked with the Education Policy Institute to research how to .
We found that food poverty rates are higher for families with very young children compared to those with older children. Food poverty is particularly damaging in the early years and more could be done to address it, by focusing resources on these families.
We hope that the findings and recommendations will inform the Government鈥檚 new to be published later in 2025.
We know that 乐鱼（Leyu）体育官网 colleagues are interested and concerned by these issues, as evidenced by their support for .
The 乐鱼（Leyu）体育官网 Foundation charity partners include a number working with parents and families with young children in disadvantaged communities. For example, find out more about: