The BNP Paribas Securities Services UK Community and Charity Programme have been working closely with local charity, The Food Chain, since December 2008. Our partnership focuses on both fundraising activities within the office as well as organising volunteering opportunities for staff.

The Food Chain, based in London, provides nutrition services including home delivered meals, essential groceries and nutrition advice to men, women and children who are ill as a result of HIV related illnesses. Their main activity is the unique meal delivery service every Sunday for people who are living housebound with HIV, their dependents and carers. The service is free and confidential. All of their services are provided with the help and support of nearly a thousand volunteers and funded via public donations. In 2009 they are celebrating 21 years since delivering their first hot meal.

The Community and Charity Programme has supported The Food Chain on a number of projects over the last year and also invited them to come into the office for our annual “CSR fair” in London. This gave The Food Chain the opportunity to talk to staff face-to-face about the charity and discuss what sort of volunteering opportunities they might be interested in.

A number of staff signed up to find out more about The Food Chain, including five members of staff who volunteered to hold a stall at their “Covent Garden Party”. This event was organised as a traditional ‘village fair’ and attracted over 150 people together to raise funds for the charity. All staff were asked to bring in homemade cakes for sale on the BNP Paribas stall, which went on to win first prize for collecting the most amount of money on the evening, raising over £100 (112 euros).

During Christmas 2008, the programme funded 346 Christmas Hampers for families living with HIV / AIDS and in March 2009, supported The Food Chain with the printing of their Annual Review. Printing costs are a huge financial burden for any charity, and this meant that they could say a real thank you to their supporters and keep them informed about their work. Staff also raised funds for The Food Chain with a dress down day in July raising almost £850 (950 euros)!

The Community and Charity Programme will continue to work with The Food Chain on a number of projects in the future including World Aid’s Day on 1 December 2009. Working with a local charity on an ongoing basis means that we can really see how our efforts are making a difference.