Last week saw the culmination of the 2010/11 CORE (COmmunity REsourcing) volunteering programme with an inspirational celebration event at the new Islington-based headquarters of Macquarie Group. 
Now finishing its second successful year, the CORE programme is a unique volunteering project aimed at capacity building for local Islington charities.
Macquarie volunteers used their skills to support six organisations, providing support in a number of areas including IT, business and financial planning, communications, governance and operations. The six-month programme matched volunteers with community groups in their backyard.
This year the project supported The Stuart Low Trust, Maytree Respite Centre, Islington Play Association and the Accept Consortia, all of which were matched with volunteers with the appropriate skills.
A partnership between Macquarie Group Foundation (Macquarie Group’s philanthropic arm), Charities Aid Foundation and Cripplegate Foundation, this innovative model provides a blueprint for engaging with business to support the local community.
Macquarie Group Foundation’s Global Head Julie White said,
“The CORE programme has been a real success since Macquarie staff began sharing their skills and expertise with local charities in Islington in 2009. We are delighted that this year nearly all of the volunteers agreed to continue their support with the organisations they have been matched with – past the programme’s closing date.”
Kristina Glenn, Director of Cripplegate Foundation, welcomed Macquarie on its move across the street and into Islington. She highlighted the need for business to engage with the community in Islington to help tackle poverty and create real opportunity in the borough, adding,
“The image of Islington is of an affluent area of London – Upper Street restaurants and expensive property. However,
Islington has the second highest level of child poverty in the country – 46%. The CORE programme is a fantastic way of bringing together organisations which know how to run excellent and much-needed services with volunteers who can bring new ideas, new challenges and skills to create better services for Islington residents.”
If you are interested in getting involved in volunteering either as a business or an organisation, get in touch with Jacqueline.Broadhead@islingtongiving.org.uk
You must log in to post a comment.