The John Lewis Partnership has donated 181,000 hours of staff (known as 'partners' within the firm) time to charities over the past decade through secondments.
To mark the 10th anniversary of its community giving programme, the Golden Jubilee Trust, the retailer is financing ten additional partner secondments at a cost of £50,000, which will provide at least 5,000 extra hours to charities.
The Golden Jubilee Trust allows staff at any level within John Lewis or Waitrose to apply for a secondment to provide help for a charity, while developing new skills that can be beneficial to both their work and personal lives.
The trust awards approximately 50 secondments each year on a full-time or part-time basis for a maximum of six months and takes on the employees’ full pay to cover the placement.
Chris Jones, manager, Golden Jubilee Trust, John Lewis Partnership, said: “We are passionate about the part the trust plays in the community and the benefits the work has on both charities and our partners.
“This year’s extra funding will give the programme and additional boost and enable us to give much needed support to even more charities. We encourage charities of all sizes to approach us if they’d like to find out more about how they might benefit from the Golden Jubilee Trust.”
Read more on staff motivation