CSR Activities 2009
Bringing staff together to work towards improving the lives of others
Charity of the Year - The Simon Community
Each year, gem supports a charity which is selected by our staff. For 2009 our staff have chosen The Simon Community Northern Ireland as their charity and are committed to raising £12,000 to help them in the invaluable work they do. The majority of fundraising activities have the added bonus of being effective team bonding exercises, for example abseiling down the Europa Hotel and running the Belfast Marathon.
Other events we have held for the Simon Community including sending the CEO to Jail, charity raffles and a comedy night.
"The money raised by gem for Simon Community in Northern Ireland will allow us to ensure that the essential services we provide to 500 people every day are able to continue.
We were able to build up good relationships with a lot of people who were so passionate, energetic and enthusiastic in raising money for the Simon Community. We find that this sort of support works at many levels - for us, for the company and for the people who work there - and it's becoming more and more popular in helping to increase staff morale and team spirit. gem is an incredible corporate supporter and has always been open to new ways to help raise funds within the workplace and they have given the Simon community access to broad range of target audiences.
I would like to thank gem once again for choosing the Simon Community as their charity partner for 2009 and for acting as ambassadors for us with the commercial marketplace."
Noreen Kennedy, Assistant Manager – Fundraising.
Payroll Giving
gem offers our staff an opportunity to participate in the Payroll Giving Scheme where staff can donate to a chosen charity directly from their salary. To date, over 45 charities have benefited from this with over £9000 donated.
Opportunity Youth
gem has also started mentoring young people through the Opportunity Youth scheme, where young people are supported through their personal and social development. gem currently has several young people on work placements in gem with mentors in Marketing, Recruitment and Office Management.
gem Apprentice
As part of the continuing development of the ILM Award in First Line Management programme, gem incorporated its CSR policy and work with the Simon Community to consolidate learning through the ‘gem Apprentice’ challenge.
Split into two groups of 6, each team had to design an orientation pack and sample two week budget that could be used by anyone joining the Simon Community.
At the end of the day each team presented their budget to the Judges with a short presentation about the key learns from their day.
The presentation needed to include details of how each team incorporated all elements of ILM learning into the challenge, as well as providing recommendations for how gem and their work teams can contribute to the Simon Community.
Silver Surfer Event
gem has several training rooms across the business and an experienced learning and development team and utilised these resources to host a Silver Surfers event for friends and family of gem staff.
We invited our staff to bring along family members over fifty that wished to learn about the internet. gem’s Learning and Development Team provided free one-to-one tuition on how to use the internet to all those who attended.
Employee Benefits
gem offers a wide range of benefits to our staff, including an Eye Care Provisions, Stakeholder Pension Scheme, Share Option Scheme and Sapphire – Our Employee Discount Scheme.
gem staff also contribute to a weekly internal newsletter - The WIG (Week in gem) which covers a wide range of subjects including reviews, special offers, what's on guides, company news, high fives and much more.
