Spotlight on The BIG Alliance: Supporting the Local Community Through Employee Volunteering

Businesses for Islington Giving Alliance (BIG Alliance) was set up in June 2012 by Islington Giving, Macquarie Group and the East London Business Alliance (ELBA) to strengthen links between businesses and community organisations and educational institutions across Islington.

Islington faces a number of social challenges: 47.5% of primary school children in Islington live in poverty, the third highest rate in London. 34% of Islington’s over-60 population live in income-deprived households, the fourth highest of all London boroughs. Islington is also the most densely populated local authority in the UK and is the London Borough with the least amount of accessible greenspace (with the exception of the City of London).

The BIG Alliance provides your employees with the opportunity to support the local community by volunteering their time through a range of exciting projects. Our Challenge programme transforms Islington’s places and spaces through practical volunteering activities such as gardening and painting and decorating. Team Challenges are great fun, a fantastic team building opportunity and provide high impact community support.

Our Connect programme gives employee volunteers the chance to use their professional skills to build the capacity of local charities. They can become a trustee of a local community organisation, coach a community leader, or deliver much needed pro bono consultancy in a range of business areas. Connect volunteering is extremely rewarding and a fantastic way for your employees to develop new skills.

Finally, our Education programmes give your employees the opportunity to engage local young people. Activities include mentoring secondary school and university students, and hosting career insight sessions that help local young people to understand the world of work. With such high rates of child poverty, it is essential that we give our young people the best possible opportunity to reach their potential. 

We make corporate community investment easy, effective, and rewarding for our business partners. Interested in learning more? Visit www.thebigalliance.org.uk or contact us via info@thebigalliance.org.uk.