The John Griff Column: Charity… isn’t all about the money

Last week I wrote about the ‘Rose Of The Shire’ awards, co-ordinated by the Northamptonshire Community Foundation. Around fifty awards were announced and presented to a variety of people who quietly get on with what they do for others without seeking recognition, to the greater benefit of the wider community. Last year, roughly £25 billion was placed on the value of volunteer activity – value which doesn’t come at a cost to the Exchequer or to local government. It is a measure (however accurate and possibly underestimated) of the practical goodwill that exists within the population.  

It is an astonishing figure, albeit dwarfed by last week's almost bewildering estimates of Elon Musk's wealth at over a trillion dollars (a million, million of them) as the flotation of SpaceX shares launched. Time will tell whether the shares reach stratospheric, galactic or even inter-galactic levels of price. Perhaps they will return to earth as something of a damp squib – but that is a subject for another day.

It’s not just individuals who give of their time and energy to help support the wider community – corporate organisations do it too. I know of many examples where generosity has come from a simple request for help – sometimes in a moment of crisis, sometimes because of employees being actively involved as volunteers. Animals in Need at Little Irchester reguarly gets companies donating staff time to help the carers of the many animals housed there. A local care home company deploys some of its headquarters staff to help with gardening projects at some of its homes. It's a practical demonstration of support which is effective in more than one way, volunteer staff having a day away from the administrative pressures of the business and gaining a practical insight into care home life for their colleagues and residents. I know also of a law firm that regularly supports not only large awards ceremonies across the county, but also sponsors grass root sport too.      

For some looking in from the outside, corporate largesse is occasionally seen as a bit of a sop. True, the opportunity for a Chief Executive to report their company having supported a local group DOES look good in an annual review, be it verbal or written. It also looks good having a corporate logo or brand colour associated with a particular association or event. But being engaged in such ways way indicates not only good housekeeping, but a desire to be accepted as part OF that community. Formalised as Corporate Social Responsibility, support doesn’t have to be financial or even have a direct cost associated with it. Instead, it highlights the values of that company, driven by the people within it. And just as was the case with the Rose Of The Shire awards, plenty of corporate benefactors stay remarkably quiet about their involvements.

A great example of this comes with an organisation with which I have my own association. The Northampton Male Voice Choir recently moved its rehearsals to new surroundings from a location that it had enjoyed a relationship with for many years just off Kingsley Park Terrace. Now numbering over a hundred choristers - a seriously large headcount in the male voice choir community of Great Britain - the choir had been faced with rising costs at a venue where space had become rather tight. The search for an alternative began - and the stars aligned.  

One of the members of the choir reached out to his employer - it houses a lot of its administrative activities on a campus at Moulton Park. Within a short period of time, not only was permission given for the choir to use the campus canteen space after hours when it would otherwise have lain dark, but it was also given an underused room to store equipment, clothing and music in. That wasn’t all. Recognising the volume and quality of work that the choir carries out through its many concerts which support other charities, a very welcome donation to choir funds was made too.

Hats off to Nationwide Building Society, Wilson Browne Solicitors, Avery Homes and every other corporate organisation that puts time and effort into its CSR – they certainly aren’t obliged to. Such generosity and compassion really matters and should be celebrated for what it is - not what it is not.