Volunteering

• 2012 Business in the Community 'Highly Commended' in the 'Employee Volunteering Team of the Year' Award 

• 2009 Business in the Community 'Business Team Volunteering Award' for the East of England

Volunteering projects 

UK

The Press has had a volunteering programme since 2008. Our people have volunteered 4,000 hours in the local community, on activities such as: 

• visiting schools to give careers talks and interview practice

• helping our Charity of the Year – Romsey Mill – by lending IT and design skills, spring-cleaning their shop, supporting their programmes and events

• doing conservation work with our local Wildlife Trust, including coppicing, fencing, pond-clearing, birdhide-building and hay-strewing

• developing personal projects such as being a school governor, a charity support worker, a special constable

Brazil

Printing Smiles, running since 2003, is a partnership with the Christmas Bag programme at Grupo AMAR in São Paolo, ensuring under-privileged children have a gift to open at Christmas. Our colleagues donate about 300 bags per year and have donated nearly 2,500 gift bags since the programme began.

Philippines

Volunteering is important for 'bayanihan' – team work. In 2012, a team in the Philippines spent a weekend painting 16 houses in a former slum community managed by Gawad Kalinga, a Philippine foundation for empowering communities and eradicating poverty.

South Africa

On Mandela Day, colleagues in the South African office volunteer their time to the local community, for example by preparing food for Cape Town’s poor or donating home-knitted scarves to school students.

Spain

Colleagues volunteer as part of the Plan España project, providing a free translation service to help children in developing countries communicate with their sponsor families.