Page 34 Supporting our communities


Our Constitution states our aim to contribute to the wellbeing of the communities where we operate, and this starts with good customer service. But it's also about Partners actively forging links and devoting time and energy to become more involved in the local communities in which they live and work. This doesn't just benefit the local community either; fundraising and volunteering help us to broaden our own skills and experience too, which in turn enhances our reputation and improves the service we offer. We use the phrase 'more than just a business' to describe how we positively support the communities in which we trade.


Supporting our communities


Ambition
To make a positive contribution to our communities through investing in local initiatives and encouraging Partner involvement.


Targets
>Contribute at least 1% of our pre-tax profits to community initiatives
>Increase Partner participation in employee volunteering programmes
>Using the LBG model, improve measurement of outputs and impacts of our community programmes


More information and detailed data can be found on www.johnlewispartnership.co.uk
See the Waitrose CSR report for more information on our sister company

£6.2 million Total Partnership contribution to charities and community groups in 2007


Community investment
We have recently reviewed the governance of our community investment within the Partnership, developing a more structured and co-ordinated approach so that we focus on projects with a real, measurable impact on the community. As well as increasing collaboration between divisions, there will also be greater engagement and involvement at local level, with individual shops continuing to be responsible for developing local programmes, monitoring the impact of their efforts and communicating their achievements. We will seek to find opportunities for Partners to engage in local initiatives that match the division's aims.


The objectives of our Community Investment Programme are
to ensure:
>the value we add to the community as a business and as individuals has lasting impact, and reinforces who we are as a business
>Partners feel pride in the Partnership
>we engage and involve our customers and key stakeholders
>our impact in our local communities can be measured and communicated.


Our approach to financial support
We contribute, both as a company and as individual Partners, through fundraising, sponsorship and donations to good causes, especially in the areas of community, medical, youth and disability issues. Between them, a divisional committee, with elected Partner representatives and local appointed community co-ordinators, oversees charitable spending at a local and national level, so that everyone has a say in how our collective contributions are spent.

To measure and monitor our overall community investment, we use the London Benchmarking Group's model to calculate the value of our non-financial contributions (gifts in kind, Partner time and management costs) as well as our cash donations.