Page 36 Supporting our communities


Our Constitution states our aim 'to contribute to the wellbeing of the communities where we operate'. This goes beyond good customer service to encompass developing strong, long-lasting partnerships at a local level, and devoting time and energy to building healthier communities. The local community obviously benefits, but fundraising and volunteering give our Partners the opportunity to broaden their own skills and experience too, which in turn enhances our reputation and improves the service we offer.


Supporting our communities


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


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

(Pie chart detailing the proportions of donations to charities and community groups)

Value of Partnership donations to charities and community groups in 2007–08
Cash donations £2,846,361
Partner time £1,525,332
Gifts in kind £741,008
Management costs £1,078,397
Total £6,191,098


Community investment
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 being part of the Partnership
> we engage and involve our customers and other key stakeholders
> our impact in our local communities can be measured and communicated.

A more streamlined and coordinated approach to the governance of community giving has been recently developed, with a focus on investing in projects that have a real, measurable impact on the community. As well as increasing collaboration with the John Lewis division, there will be greater engagement and involvement at a local level. This will ensure that the wealth we create is shared and distributed locally where our Partners live and work, with individual shops responsible for developing local community programmes, monitoring the impact of their efforts and communicating their achievements.

We use the London Benchmarking Group model to measure and monitor our overall community contribution, calculating the total cash donations made to charities and community groups, as well as gifts in kind, Partner time volunteered and the costs associated with managing our community activities. Our total contribution in 2007–08 was £6.2 million (Waitrose: £3.0 million), an increase of 6% on the previous year. This represents 1.63% of our Partnership-wide pre-tax profits.

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