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PARTNER VOLUNTEERING

Our Partners make a genuine difference to local people’s lives and serve the needs of their communities by giving their time and skills through voluntary work. In addition to providing a valuable resource, Partners can develop new skills, grow in confidence, take on new responsibilities and become more motivated.

Our flagship volunteering scheme, the Golden Jubilee Trust (GJT), is an independent charity through which Partners can undertake secondments with UK-registered charities for up to six months. Set up in April 2000 to mark the 50th anniversary of the business’ co-ownership structure, 2010 sees the GJT celebrate its 10th anniversary. During that decade, 441 Partners have given over 181,500 hours to more than 400 UK charities. To celebrate the GJT’s 10-year anniversary, the Partnership has made a donation to the Trust of £50,000. This funding will enable 10 additional secondments to take place, creating 10 extra chances for Partners to make a lasting difference to a charity. These opportunities can also lead to new experiences and personal development for the Partners themselves.

In addition, our Time Bank scheme encourages John Lewis and head office Partners to get involved with local community projects. In the London Victoria area alone, these included a local school’s lunchtime reading club, revamping a youth club’s theatre space, sorting out clothes donated to a charity for the homeless and creating a garden for the residents of an Autism London care centre.

LOCAL INVESTMENT

Vibrant, economically sustainable town centres are important to us as a business, and we believe we can play a vital role in their long-term prosperity as we continue to expand our business into new areas.

When considering the location for a new shop, we explore all potential aspects and impacts, from transport to architecture to public safety, with local authorities and developers. We also engage with community groups to ensure they will suit their surroundings and offer long-term value. This approach not only ensures we create comfortable, attractive environments for customers, but also helps us to build stronger relationships with our neighbours and to attract, train and recruit local people into rewarding, fulfilling jobs.

Following the success we had in embracing bilingualism in John Lewis Cardiff, our first shop in Wales, Waitrose Menai Bridge also gives precedence to the Welsh language.

Local recruitment

The first John Lewis at home store in Poole, which opened in October 2009, attracted more than 1,000 applications for 100 jobs and, in April 2010, Croydon’s biggest retail recruitment campaign kicked off our search for 220 Partners to work in our second at home store.

Similarly, Waitrose’s first shop in York will create up to 180 new jobs, while the acquisition of five shops from The Co-operative Group in November 2009 resulted in 500 employees joining the business from four Somerfield stores at Ashbourne, Melksham, Storrington and Wellington, and a Co-operative shop in Menai Bridge, North Wales.


(Photo of Jo Cashman)

JO CASHMAN

People and Organisational Development Manager, Marie Curie Cancer Care

Gill Bowler (Internal Communications Manager, Waitrose) certainly hit the ground running, and from the work she has done, we’ve ended up with a clear idea of how we’ll improve communication within our Nursing Service. Gill went above and beyond to make her GJT secondment a success, and her expertise, energy and focus has put us in a great position to further help our staff deliver exceptionally high-quality care at the end of people’s lives – a pretty significant impact for three weeks work.


(Photo of Nigel Keen)

Nigel Keen

Director of Development, Waitrose

It is important we have the right sites to deliver successful stores and provide the foundation for the substantial benefits Waitrose can bring to a location. New stores provide a boost to the local economy, not only with the creation of jobs, but also through our commitment to supporting local projects through our Community Matters scheme and exploring new opportunities for local and regional producers.