Our community investment programme focuses on three thematic areas:
- Banking on Brighter Futures
- Looking After Our Local Communities
- Charity Begins at Work
Banking on Brighter Futures
Banking on Brighter Futures enables us to use our knowledge and expertise as a financial services provider to make the biggest difference to key social issues. Through Banking on Brighter Futures we support programmes that facilitate financial inclusion for the unbanked and under-banked, which form the majority of our adult population in Kenya.
Banking on Brighter Futures also gives us the opportunity to invest in the youth so that they in turn are given a chance to chart better lives for themselves. A case in point is the Barclays partnership with UNICEF in 2007 which involved a donation by Barclays of $1.6 million (Ksh 107 million) to support the rehabilitation of street children in Kenya.
The three-year partnership aims to get street children off the street, off the poverty cycle and into a safe environment that will give them an opportunity of having a brighter future. A total of 4000 Kenyan children will benefit from this project.
Our partnership with Junior Achievement also gives us the opportunity to share with students in Kenyan secondary schools, our skills in financial literacy, entrepreneurship as well as offering first hand experience in the work place.
Looking after our Local Communities
In recognition of the importance of our local communities, Barclays has taken deliberate steps to strengthen these groups of people by supporting causes that matter to them most. To this end, we continuously engage in collaborative partnerships with the government and reputable NGOs to address provision of formal education, public health with special attention to HIV/AIDS and Malaria, disability issues as well as entrepreneurship development.
Barclays has committed substantial amounts of money to address challenges in the education sector . In 2007 alone, Barclays invested Kshs.20 million for the development of infrastructure in public schools. The support involved the construction and equipping of science and computer labs, classrooms, dormitories and the provision of water and sanitation facilities in selected schools in all eight provinces of Kenya.
In the arena of public health, Barclays entered a KSh 7.5 m partnership in 2007 with World Vision Kenya in support of the fight against malaria. This partnership involves the distribution of 10,000 treated long life mosquito nets to vulnerable groups, specifically children under 5 years of age and expectant mothers in malaria prevalent areas.
Barclays partnered with Kenya Institute for the Blind donating KSh 1.2m towards the transcription of text books into Braille for visually impaired children in public schools.1000 needy people suffering from cataracts will have their eyesight restored through the KSh. 6 million Barclays Loresho Eye Hospital collaboration
Charity Begins at Work
At the heart of our community investment programme is the desire to encourage and inspire our people to get involved in the causes they care about. Barclays creates opportunities for employees to engage in community work and in this regard has formulated fundraising and volunteering schemes which colleagues can get involved in.
In any given year, over 90% of our colleagues actively participate in these community events underscoring Barclays desire to be associated by all stakeholders as a corporate partner that contributes to the welfare of the communities where we operate.
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