This week is Volunteers’ Week in which the unpaid efforts of people across the country are celebrated. And today, Thursday 3rd June 2021 is the day when we particularly focus on business volunteers.

FoodCycle was one of the nine community partners that joined our CoRe 2020 programme. Over the six month period of the programme, the charity was supported by volunteers from Macquarie and Slaughter and May who helped them further FoodCycle’s expansion plans for their services, especially after the lockdown is lifted.

MMARAP joined our CoRe 2020 programme with the aim of improving their communications and marketing. Working with volunteers from Macquarie and Slaughter and May, they not only learned about website content and efficient use of social media, but also improved their fundraising as well as various policy documents.

In the run up to Christmas, volunteers wrote cards and letters to vulnerable people feeling lonely and/or isolated.

During a “normal” year, Christmas can be an especially lonely time for many people. Amid a pandemic involving lockdowns and limited social contact, their experiences of loneliness and isolation are understandably more profound.

Ahead of this year’s CoRe report, we shine a light on some of the key reflections which were shared at the 2020 celebration event by the amazing CoRe volunteers from both Macquarie Group and Slaughter and May. Despite the challenges of the pandemic, we are delighted CoRe 2020 acted as a conduit for significant connections and understanding across sectors which seemed even more needed this year.

We come together as a new campaign led by a group of senior and influential Black and BAME professionals and business organisations, drawn together by Red Lion Chambers and ELBA and make this statement of intent in response to the shocking events of 25 May 2020.

65 volunteers have now supported our Time to Talk programme since 2018. In this article we detail our 2019 programme which saw 30 volunteers visit 8 schools, delivering to 32 classes and over 800 pupils.

Following February’s biggest trustee recruitment event to date, we are proud to announce that we helped over 30 employees from 16 of our member businesses become trustees of the 16 charities that were part of BIG Alliance/ELBA's BoardMatch6 programme. Below we hear from Katy Porter, CEO of Manor Gardens Welfare Trust, who describes the timeliness, effectiveness, and importance of the BoardMatch programme, at a time when reports suggest trustee recruitment continues to be a significant challenge in the charity sector.

Hosted for the first time in Islington by the BIG Alliance, Tuesday 26th February marked the sixth edition of the East London Business Alliance’s (ELBA) BoardMatch event, receiving our biggest attendance to date.