KPMG and the NSPCC have joined forces in an effort to reach hundreds of thousands of primary school children with vital information that will help them have happier and safer childhoods. Earlier this month more than 8,700 staff from the professional services firm KPMG chose the NSPCC to be the company’s national charity over the next two years, a partnership that will form a key part of the firm’s corporate responsibility initiative.
Teams of KPMG volunteers will work with the NSPCC to deliver ‘Speak Out. Stay Safe’ assemblies, where primary school children will learn how to stay safe from the dangers of abuse and neglect in a fun and age-appropriate way.
In addition KPMG will host employability workshops for teenagers and coach young people living locally to their 22 offices located across the UK. The firm is also starting to plan a programme of events to raise funds for the NSPCC, including marathon places and local events, supported by staff that are actively encouraged to spend six days a year volunteering for a charity. KPMG hopes that funds raised through the alliance will help more than 300,000 children.
The work will dovetail into KPMG’s wider objective to improve access to lifelong learning, and boost numeracy and literacy skills among people from lower socio-economic backgrounds across the UK.
Chris Pole, Partner and Birmingham Office Charity Lead at KPMG, commented: “We are really looking forward to supporting the NSPCC over the next two years, complementing the work we do with our other local charities, St Basils and Cure Leukaemia. Our colleagues in Birmingham have a great track record of getting fully-involved in fundraising and volunteering opportunities, and we’re already planning ways to ramp up the activity over the next 24 month.
“It is vital to us as a major employer that we play an active role in making a difference to the societies we operate in. Helping to ensure that children and young people are safe, cared for, and have access to the same education and employment opportunities regardless of circumstances, is an absolute priority. This is why we are pleased to support the NSPCC. We believe access to lifelong learning, and literacy and numeracy skills are the three barriers to social mobility where we can make the biggest difference.”
