Member Article

Record year of social engagement for Manchester global investors

Employees at global investments company BNY Mellon in Manchester are celebrating a record year of community partnership.

In 2013 staff took part in more than 3,000 volunteering hours and raised more than £32,000 for charities, topping last year’s totals and helping more worthy causes than ever before, including the Salford Foundation, The Seashell Trust, The Wood Street Mission, Manchester Dogs’ Home, St Anne’s Hospice, George House Trust, Albert Kennedy Trust, The Christie, MacMillan and The National Trust.

The result follows the Manchester site being named ‘Highly Commended’ by the Business in the Community Local Impact Awards for Employee Volunteering Company of the Year in the North West. The programme, which is one of the Prince of Wales’ charities, honours those businesses that have a positive and sustainable impact on society.

Since opening an office in Manchester in 2005 with 50 people, BNY Mellon has grown to over 1,200 staff across two offices today and is committed to making a real difference in the community through direct donations, team-oriented volunteering, employee fundraising and individual volunteering. Employees are allowed two days of paid volunteer time, with many gaining an extra third day.

Karen Peetz, the New York-based President of BNY Mellon, visited Manchester earlier this year and saw some of the volunteering in action.

She took part in a game of Fundopoly with pupils from Altrincham Grammar School for Girls, an innovative game invented by a BNY Mellon Manchester employee that shows what it’s like to trade on the stock market.

The game involves getting the budding stock brokers to navigate the highs and lows of the market. Each team is given an equal amount of money to ‘invest’ in shares, commodities, currencies and bonds based on the real-life trading forecast.

Ms. Peetz, along with Jim McEleney, Chief Operating Officer for EMEA, met Des Lynch from the Wood Street Mission, as part of the company’s annual global Community Partnership Campaign which this year was focused on raising awareness of issues related to food security and waste. Manchester employees collected tinned food items and helped raise more than £2,500 as part of the campaign.

“Caring about our communities is a cornerstone of BNY Mellon’s philanthropic philosophy and we invest in initiatives that make our communities better places to live and work,” said Steve Hayes-Allen, Manchester Site Executive and Regional Head, Northern UK at BNY Mellon.

He added: “We believe that we can help create positive change by empowering people on a local level, helping them gain new skills and raising their aspirations.

“One of the company’s major focus areas is on empowering disadvantaged groups and equipping them with the skills they need to make a positive difference in their own lives. Around 98% of young people involved in activities run by BNY Mellon volunteers in Manchester say their experiences have helped them gain confidence.

“A big thank you to everyone from our Manchester offices who gave time and money in helping so many worthy causes and allowing us to achieve our most successful year ever.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Simon Malia .