Give & Gain campaign extends international reach

Volunteering initiative Give & Gain Day is extending its international reach with four new partnerships in Honduras, Panama, India and Kenya.

Now in its sixth year, the annual Business in the Community (BITC) campaign will see its 100,000th person take part and volunteer in their community on 16 May 2014. The initiative kicked off officially at the BT Tower last week.

Sponsored by Lloyds Banking Group, Society and Waitrose and in association with BT and ITV, Give & Gain Day 2014 is dedicated to getting thousands of employees out of the office, store or factory to volunteer in their local communities.

Last year, almost 300 companies sent out over 12,000 volunteers on Give & Gain Day – helping 600 community organizations in the UK. In total, the value of time donated by volunteers across the UK on Give & Gain Day was £1.3m. Business volunteers helped in schools, day centres and youth groups, doing everything from delivering employability workshops and CV training for the long term unemployed to supporting school sports days.

At the launch Stephen Howard, chief executive of BITC emphasized that the day this year was about celebrating what volunteering can achieve: “In the last year Business in the Community programmes were powered by 46,000 volunteers who gave half a million hours of their time. Give & Gain Day is an opportunity for businesses, community organisations and schools to celebrate what can be achieved through the power of volunteers. Employee volunteering is a win-win, the experience builds skills and motivates employees, whilst helping meet community needs.”

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