Community
Debenhams has always fostered links with its many local communities.
Community Projects
One of our most recent initiatives has offered store managers to become involved with local projects through Business in the Community (BitC) and Scottish Business in the Community (SBitC). As a result of this initiative, the opening programme for a new store now includes a team building event for the store management team which benefits local people and helps the team to recognise and start to understand the specific needs and issues in the broader community which their store will be part of.
In Altrincham, where a Desire store opened in May 2007, this involved working alongside community volunteers to clear woods and create a play area in an area of social and economic deprivation. The children’s facility at Welwyn Garden City town centre YMCA benefited from a facelift courtesy of the team from the new local store in August 2007. When the new Glasgow Silverburn store opened in October 2007, the store team worked with the Arbelour Trust to help restore the gardens of a local church community hall, a vital resource for local people which hosts among other groups the local pensioners’ and stroke clubs.
These events are the start of what we hope will be a long-term partnership with BitC and SBitC.
Getting People Back to Work
As a large local employer, we seek to recruit the best people from a wide pool of talent and attract and retain a diverse workforce which reflects the communities in which we operate. We also want to help those in the community who want to work but have been unable to do so for a variety of reasons such as disability, lack of childcare, lack of up-to-date skills etc.
In July 2007, we announced our support for the Local Employment Partnership initiative which formalised our involvement with Job Centre Plus and the Skills Sector Council on a range of measures designed to improve the employability skills of people looking for work. Our involvement has been acknowledged in a number of ways and most recently we were awarded the Local Employment Partnership Award in North Wales.
Supporting Charities
Debenhams and its employees support many charities at both company and store level. We have raised nearly £1.5 million over the past few years to support the Breast Cancer Campaign through nationwide initiatives in stores and in our head office. We also support the Everyman charity in its fight against testicular cancer in conjunction with Calvin Klein underwear.
The men’s brand Mantaray is affiliated with the Marine Conservation Society. It supports the Society in a number of ways including sponsoring beach clean-ups around the UK.
Santa’s arrival in store at Christmas is always an exciting time and we use the event to raise money for charity. In recent years the Fire Services National Benevolent Fund and the NSPCC have both benefited.
Our stores support a whole range of local organisations including playgroups, schools (including special needs), hospitals and hospices. They also raise money and awareness for national charities such as Marie Curie, Macmillan Nurses, Comic Relief and Children In Need.
Individual employees show their support for charitable giving with nearly 1,000 donating directly to charity from their salaries through the Debenhams Give As You Earn scheme.
Debenhams is also an active supporter of the Retail Trust which provides support and assistance to people working in, or retired from, the retail industry when they or their families need it. Our work in this area was rewarded recently with five members of staff invited to Buckingham Palace to meet The Queen, patron of the Retail Trust.
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