As part of the Lloyds Banking Group family, we are supporting Crisis, the Group Charity Partnership for 2023/24, by holding various fundraising activities and encouraging colleagues to get involved with organised events throughout the year. These include a coffee morning where colleagues could purchase an invisible coffee for a homeless person, a 24 hour challenge, a series of City Walks and a trek in the Lake District. One member of staff is trekking in Iceland in September, with a company wide select group of colleagues, each person involved aims to raise £4,000 as part of fundraising activity.
Social impact
As a responsible business, we feel that it is important to have a positive effect on society and the communities in which we operate and we are proud to be involved in a number of charitable and community initiatives. We also love to recognise the wonderful things that our staff do for their communities. We ask our employees to nominate those who they feel go ‘above and beyond’ both in their jobs and in their own time, whether by volunteering, fund raising, taking on community projects or simply helping others.
Everyone who contributes to charitable organisations and their community is a huge source of inspiration that personifies our commitment to building a better society.
Dundee Tech School
Launched in November 2023, the Dundee Tech School is a brand new fintech hub, based in Embark’s Dundee office, that is dedicated to developing a pipeline of talent in engineering, data, tech and cyber. In conjunction with QA Consulting, twelve junior developers will be put through their paces in an 8-week intensive software engineering training programme. This will be followed by a twelve-week ‘incubation lab’, led by the new tech school lead who will work closely with the Embark engineering team to design and develop the internal training programme.
The school, which is also being supported by Scottish Enterprise, will play a leading role in solving the acute skills and recruitment challenge for technology businesses nationwide. With its people-first approach, this initiative will frontload essential learning, empowering students to develop their confidence and commercial productivity within six months. 1 in 10 new job openings in the UK are now technology related and Embark’s tech school will help fill the gap in training for graduates and new starters interested in a career in technology in Dundee.
For further information please contact us.
Embark Spirit BSS
Established in 2010 as the Spirit Racing Team, Embark Spirit BSS have grown to become one of the strongest elite amateur teams in the UK and have come together with what was Embark Bikestrong and TBW23 Stuart Hall Cycling to become the best development team in Europe with an academy approach.The club supports riders from across the UK as they ride socially, in sportives or as part of the racing team. The club currently has five elite riders, with seven under the age of 23, as well as members competing socially across the country.
Following on from a successful sponsorship in 2021, Embark is now lead sponsor for the 2023 season. The sponsorship ensures that Embark Spirit BSS can support more people and expand the opportunities for club riders to compete across the UK. Our sponsorship enables the team to train, travel and have the latest kit as they target promotion to the UCI Continental Circuit – a major step into the World Tour and professional road racing. You can find out more at embarkspiritbss.co.uk and follow them on LinkedIn.
“Cycling is a fantastic team sport, requiring many individuals all with different skills to be fully aligned to a single mission, which reflects the Embark Group ethos. One of the attractions of Embark Spirit BSS was their commitment to supporting riders of all levels and abilities from elite to social, enabling more people to engage with the sport”
SARAH SANDLE, CSR MANAGER
Charity
We continue to support a variety of charities year after year, by fundraising, volunteering and skills sharing. We also encourage any individual fundraising efforts shown by our staff.
Our ‘Employee Awards’ event celebrates this by recognising all who take part in helping their local communities and chosen charities.
Employee Driven Charitable Giving
Lloyds Banking Group Charity Partnership with Crisis
Through the partnership with Crisis, the aim is to end Homelessness through Housing, achieved through a variety of programmes that the partnership will deliver. We are also working with Simon Community in Northern Ireland.
Dundee
Boomerang Community Centre is a charity based in Dundee which provides a range of services and activities for the local community in the Stobswell area. This includes running a food larder, youth clubs, mum and baby groups and wellbeing groups to name a few. Boomerang is committed to creating a safe and welcoming environment that encourages people to come together to learn new skills, make friends, and have fun. They provide hot meals, social interaction, and help improve people’s mental and physical wellbeing. The food larder and donations help provide affordable solutions for anyone struggling in this cost-of-living crisis.
We are organising various fundraising activities and helping to keep their community larder stocked with colleague donations. This charity provides an invaluable service to the local Dundee community and one Embark is proud to support.
“Everyone at Boomerang is delighted for Embark’s continued support in 2023. This will allow us to continue to assist the most vulnerable people living in our community. We have seen a huge increase in families accessing our Community Food larder due to the cost of living crisis and your support makes life a lot easier for many families.”
Alison Carr, Development Worker
For more information on Boomerang visit their website.
Christmas Donation 2022
The Trussell Trust supports a nationwide network of food banks of which there are more than 1,200. These food banks are a vital lifeline to people locked in poverty or those who find themselves in a situation where they need temporary help. The food banks provide a minimum of three days’ nutritionally balanced emergency food to people. More than 14 million people in the UK live below the poverty line.
We have donated £5,000 to The Trussell Trust this Christmas which could help provide an emergency grant to a food bank to help them tackle the extra challenges that continue due to the pandemic.
Women in Asset Servicing
Since March 2021, Embark Group has sponsored the networking group, Women in Asset Servicing (WiAS). WiAS is a partnership designed to increase support for women at all stages of their careers in financial services. Embark provides practical support, resources and expertise to WiAS to further increase the reach and impact of the group.
Since the sponsorship began, we have helped increase the membership by almost 180% and WiAS now have over 800 members. We have welcomed over 1,000 attendees to events since March 2021 with 11 webinars and five in-person events and in January 2023 we introduced a mentor matching initiative. WiAS won the Asset Servicing Times Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Award in 2021 and its founder, Kate Webber was the winner of the Mentor of the Year at the Investment Week Women in Investment Awards, also in 2021. Find out more about the network on the website and read about the latest news on the LinkedIn page.
