The Great Generation

 

A Desire to Make a Difference

A Desire to Make a Difference

- ‘LDC in the Community’.

Darryl Eales, Chief Executive of LDC

Asking your colleagues to devote time, effort and money to charitable causes can result in a number of interesting reactions. This is especially the case when the individuals at the company work hard, spend time away from their families and partners on a regular basis, and have little time to focus on activities outside their perceived sphere of influence.

But following the Indian Ocean earthquake tragedy in December 2004 that’s just what we did at Lloyds TSB Development Capital (LDC). Our culture was built around a number of strong cultural themes – teamwork, camaraderie, partnership, professional integrity and community support. Therefore, as a team, it was natural we wanted to give something back and try to make a difference. The tsunami disaster acted as a catalyst for our organisation to do something bigger. Identifying the route our organisation should take was the next step.

It was from this that the ‘LDC in the Community’ concept was developed; an approach that has become an integral part of our organisation. 

As an organisation we are extremely goal and delivery focused so by developing the concept of charitable giving under the term ‘LDC in the Community’, LDC found a focus for its efforts. More importantly it energised our teams around the country to develop ideas that would contribute to this. Over the past two years ‘LDC in the Community’ has contributed over £175,000 to various charities; and from a team of just over 80 people this is an effort we are extremely proud of.

The Great Generation became one of the first charities to benefit from this concept because their approach was different. The approach called for active participation. Whilst standard charitable activities are part and parcel of the ‘LDC in the Community’ approach The Great Generation provided LDC with a route that supported both individual and financial involvement. Such was the response to the tsunami tragedy in 2004 it was felt that whilst financial contribution and encouragement from the UK was outstanding there were a few members of the LDC team who actually wanted to do more. They wanted to get involved.

Our first The Great Generation endeavour involved six LDC volunteers travelling to the village of Peraliya on the South West coast of Sri Lanka to spend two weeks helping to secure homes for local families. Peraliya was one of the worst affected areas in Sri Lanka. Over 3,000 people from the community were killed and 90 per cent of the houses were destroyed.

Over the past few years LDC has continued to explore charitable options that provide an opportunity for active support. Money will always be important, but sometimes effective giving means energising your community to understand what we are trying to do, and why it is important for them to be involved. Through this thought process we have developed a number of indirect activities that bring charity issues to the fore of the community we work with.

The first and one of our most effective activities is the annual LDC charity quiz. Now in its third year the quiz takes place simultaneously in six locations, involves over 140 teams (of six people each) and the entire LDC team. While a number of local and national charities benefit (i.e. Cystic Fibrosis, St Anne’s Hospice, Wish Upon A Star, Birmingham’s Children Hospital) the important aspect for LDC is that it embraces and involves the local business community. Such events increase the awareness of what local charities are trying to achieve.





















A second project involves LDC’s support for Camp Mohawk. Led by the Southern team this initiative provides financial and active support for the Woodland Trust, a project that provides a variety of facilities and activity programmes for autistic children and their families. The camp is staffed by employees who are trained to work with children with special difficulties. In 2006 LDC raised over £13,000 for this project and, in spring 2007 staff and individuals from the local business community spent a day preparing the camp for summer. This was a true expression of an active ‘LDC in the Community’ project.

Stretching the concept even further is something we at LDC will constantly review. Through our involvement with a number of managing directors and Chief Executive Officers within the businesses we back, the question has arisen as to whether we look to get their active involvement in charitable projects. However we must always bear in mind many of the companies we support already have quite an active involvement in local charities and we wouldn’t want to upset this balance.

So where does LDC go from here? Firstly we must recognise what we are doing, however small, benefits someone somewhere. We must continue to believe this. Secondly, LDC will always strive to ascertain what our money (or activity) is doing because, as an organisation, we like to understand not only what we are giving, but how it is being used. This is important not just for LDC, but for the organisations receiving our support. We all then have a clear vision of what the goals are and how they are being achieved. This is part of a fundamental belief in giving and obtaining value for everything we do – an important working practise we can share with our partners. Finally, we should never lose sight of the privileged position we find ourselves in. As a company we believe we have a responsibility to provide support and this remains a key part of our culture.

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