A key part of our responsible business strategy is to use our expertise and resources to improve outcomes for society and the communities we serve. When our communities prosper, so does our business and so does the sense of well-being among our colleagues.
Community Fund
The Community Fund helps to build a more inclusive and equitable society by supporting disadvantaged young people in their quest for a brighter future. This complements our commitment to being an inclusive and diverse employer, which helps us to attract and retain a wide range of talent.
Our Bright Futures programme connects our colleagues with young people from lower socio-economic backgrounds via volunteering opportunities to help them acquire the knowledge and networks they need to improve their employment chances.
In 2024, our colleagues gave 2,027 volunteering hours to support more than 11,000 disadvantaged young people through activities ranging from paid work experience to mentoring. This more than doubled the total number reached since the launch of the programme in September 2022.
Our commitment to social mobility was recognised by the Social Mobility Foundation Employers Index as we rose eight places to 60. The Index measures eight areas of employer-led social mobility including recruitment approach, internal progression opportunities and engagement with young people.
In 2024, the Community Fund donated £50,000 to four new charity partners – Parenting Mental Health, Race Equality Matters, employment support programme charity SPEAR and The Diversity Trust. Each organisation focuses on at least one of the fund’s strategic areas, such as increasing minority group inclusion and improving outcomes for social mobility.
Charitable giving
Participating in charity initiatives enhances employees’ engagement with the company by fostering a sense of belonging and connection, enabling them to align their professional roles with personal values. We launched a new volunteering platform, “Neighbourly”, in May which provides market-leading data insights and reporting capabilities.
Our Community & Social Committees continued to help colleagues get involved in community activities and support fundraising ventures. Colleagues can support good causes in three main ways: ‘give as you earn’, for which the Group earned a Platinum Payroll Giving Quality Mark Award; community cashback – each individual can apply for £250 to support their volunteering or fundraising activity; and ‘Change for Charity’ – in 2024 donations deducted from monthly pay went to MIND.
WhizzKidz: through our partnership with the charity devoted to young wheelchair users, we donated £10,000 to children living near our offices. With this partner, we also ran a Disability Awareness Training session for more than 100 colleagues.
Values in action
As a leading insurer, we conduct research and mount campaigns that tackle societal challenges.
In 2024, Churchill uncovered the shocking statistic that 1,200 children are injured every month in traffic collisions within 500 metres of a school. Film evidence from key locations revealed that 10% of children were using their phones while crossing the road and one in five secondary school pupils were hit or narrowly missed by vehicles whilst using their phones. We launched a campaign – ‘Eyes up, screens down’ – to highlight the dangers.
Insure Your Future event: As part of National Careers Week, we brought together several insurance companies to introduce young people (aged 16-20) from diverse backgrounds to a career in insurance. 510 students took part in the business simulation exercise and by the end of the day there was a 27% increase in attendees agreeing that they could see themselves working in insurance.
