Standard Chartered Bank celebrates employee volunteerism and giving back in the style of Company of Good’s Giving Marketplace.
The Giving Marketplace, a concept created by the National Volunteer and Philanthropy Centre’s (NVPC) Company of Good, brings together corporates, community players, non-profit organisations and social enterprises in the form of a fun bazaar, to better understand the needs of the community and encourage corporates to give back better.
Standard Chartered Bank organised their annual Employee Volunteering (EV) appreciation luncheon in the style of Company of Good’s Giving Marketplace, with booths set up by NPOs and Social Enterprises to spread awareness on causes in line with the bank’s community priorities such as health, youth, elderly and disability. It was the first time that the bank’s appreciation event involved partners from the non-profit and social enterprise sector.
Photo Credit: Standard Chartered Bank
Recognised as a Champion of Good in 2017 and winner of the President’s Volunteerism & Philanthropy Awards in 2013, giving back is not new to Standard Chartered. The bank is known for its strong volunteering culture, with EV leave entitlement and departments organising team-building around volunteer activities. Various touch points on the company’s intranet, for instance the calendar of volunteer opportunities or the sharing of best volunteering practices online, helps employees further their giving journey. Annual EV appreciation events are also held to recognise employees and teams who have made outstanding contributions to Standard Chartered’s EV programme.
Photo Credit: Standard Chartered Bank
At the Giving Marketplace, Standard Chartered staff forged new EV partnerships with the NPOs present. Coddi Chew, IT & Operations at Standard Chartered Bank, found out about Singapore Cancer Society’s Relay for Life event and managed to rally 32 volunteers from her team to help in the goodie bag packing session.
The Giving Marketplace is a great place to get introduced to more organisations and find out what they are doing for the community and where they need volunteers to step up. My team volunteered with the Singapore Cancer Society where together with volunteers from other corporate organisations, we packed 100 festive food packs and 8200 goodie bags for the society’s beneficiaries and Relay for Life event.
CODDI CHEW
IT & Operations
Some of the other booths present include Autism Association (Singapore), Breast Cancer Foundation, Down Syndrome Association, Edible Garden City, Flour Power, HCA Hospice Care, SPD and The Red Pencil. Attendees also left the event with a notebook from The Animal Project, a social enterprise that supports persons with special needs.
Photo Credit: Standard Chartered Bank
NVPC’s CEO, Melissa Kwee also inspired the bank’s staff in their giving journey towards creating a City of Good. Building on the concept that we are stronger together and we are not alone in our efforts to give better, Melissa encouraged the coming together of various partners to collaborate for positive change, similar to the model of Giving Marketplace.
