Contributing to a sustainable society

Collaborating on our journey

Contributing to a sustainable society is part of SMBC Group’s mission statement. We are still quite early in our Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) journey in the EMEA region and it’s been great to be able to tap into British Land’s community connections. British Land has made it much easier for us to respond to volunteering demand from colleagues and make an impact locally, right from the point of moving into our new head office in Broadgate.

For example, with the help of our connection at British Land, 20 colleagues from our HR team went to Hackney Community College to give speed interviews for young people and deliver a session on career progression. This was perfect for the team’s skillsets and had a direct impact for young people who live locally to us. Hopefully, one day some of them will come and work for SMBC.

Facilitating local connections

We have donated to the Broadgate Community Fund. This allows businesses on the campus to come together and pool their resources to make a real and long-lasting social impact. It’s also great to meet and learn from each other, as you tend to be in small teams when working in CSR, so it’s good to hear what others are doing.

Another organisation British Land has connected us to is social mobility charity East London Business Alliance (ELBA). ELBA has a decade-strong employment and skills partnership at Broadgate and offers businesses on the campus access to team volunteering days. ELBA is now our official volunteering partner and we’re looking forward to using this partnership to bring our colleagues together to support our communities.

Inspiring and supporting young people

There is some amazing talent around us in Tower Hamlets and Hackney, but many people in our local community face barriers into work, for a variety of socio-economic reasons. Often, they don’t have the connections or information to access roles in the city. At SMBC, we want to help young people to overcome those barriers.

In 2022, more than 200 students and nearly 30 colleagues took part in our first mentoring programme at SMBC, launched by our Black Employees and Allies network in partnership with Career Ready. Now entering our second year, we have 42 mentors, plus a variety of masterclasses and workshops, and are on track to host work experience students in the summer. British Land also has a partnership with Career Ready and we’re exploring how we can collaborate here too, such as hosting joint workplace visits to give students insights into even more career routes. This is important as we depend on many different skills, including CSR, HR, IT, communications and security – a career in a bank isn’t only for bankers!

Sharing expertise and experience

SMBC offers colleagues a generous six-day volunteering allowance and British Land is helping us to encourage colleagues to use it by sharing opportunities. I regularly meet with the Broadgate Community Manager to discuss what’s available locally.

We both emphasise skilled volunteering because it’s a powerful way to empower charities. Many non-profits prioritise focusing their funding on delivering their vital services, so hiring consultants to improve their efficiency or grow is often scarce. This means our colleagues contributing their expertise, knowledge and experience can make a real difference.

Coming together

When we surveyed our colleagues on which CSR themes matter most to them, they highlighted two priorities: reducing inequalities and improving environmental sustainability. I’m excited that we are focusing our energy on these areas and coming together around a common cause.

All businesses have an impact on the community, whether intentional or unintentional, and we want to make sure ours is positive. British Land has been a lifeline in helping us get our social programmes off the ground and as a collective we’re looking forward to achieving so much more.

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