2010 proved to be another busy year for the Zurich Community Trust, as we continued to work to deliver a lasting difference to communities across the UK and overseas. 

None of this would happen without the support of our network of amazing charity partners and great fundraising and volunteering from Zurich and Capita employees.  Take a look below at just a little of what was delivered last year, with a lot of help from our friends.  Thank you!

It's a fact..

• We donate c. £2.8 million a year to around 700 charities, helping them to support 90,000 beneficiaries.  This includes a total of £245,000 to our current six national charity partners and £390,000 awarded in local grants across many UK communities.
• 94% of our giving is in the UK with 6% overseas.  As part of this, in 2010 we awarded £70,000 to 13 charities supporting the poorest communities in India, Africa and Eastern Europe through the Zurich Cares Overseas Grants Programme.
• 2010 was the first year of working in partnership with The Prince’s Trust. Through the Working for Wellbeing programme, 180 Prince’s Trust staff and Team Leaders have been given mental health awareness training. A further 125 student social workers have been on work placements on the Team programme, giving the next generation of social workers a greater understanding of mental health issues and how best to work with vulnerable young people. We're proud to say that around 2,000 disadvantaged 16-25-year-olds have already been impacted by the scheme.  Other valued partners of the 1.7 million Young People's Mental Health Programme include The Place2Be and the Mental Health Foundation which hosts the Children and Young People's Mental Health Coalition.
• A total of 138 Zurich volunteers have established an essential friendship with a vulnerable older person by making regular phone calls to them as part of A Call in Time, a befriending service run in partnership with Age UK.  Over 1 million people aged 65 or over say they are always or often feel lonely, and through Call in Time we are helping to change that. 
• The Breaking the Cycle programme, delivered by partner charity Addaction, works to break the destructive cycle of drug and alcohol use in families by providing dedicated and holistic support to reduce substance misuse and improve parenting skills.  Working with over 460 family members over three years, an independent evaluation showed 81% of parents significantly reduced their use of drugs or alcohol and 77% of families were more stable and less chaotic, greatly improving the life chances of their children.
• We continued to combine core funding and the sharing of skills on the India programme with our seven NGO partners in Southern India. Four Zurich assignees each completed 4 week projects this year.  This means 88 assignees have participated in the programme since its inception, 15 years ago.

Zurich people

• Around 3,000 employees volunteer each year donating over 35,000 hours.  This is worth nearly £700,000 to charities.
• 2010 marked the 21st anniversary year of Challenge, our biggest annual team volunteering event!  As popular a programme as ever, Zurich employees signed up to 200 team projects ranging from DIY and gardening tasks to helping to run charity events and organising days out to support local charities.
• 126 skillshares were undertaken with Zurich employees signing up to share their business skills with charities across the UK. A wide range of skills were in demand, with staff donating everything from presentation skills training to web and leaflet design, and business planning. 
• Enthusiastic fundraising and committed support from Zurich UK employees through Give As You Earn, Round Pound and the Zurich Cares Lottery means that a total of £530,000 was raised in 2010. 
• 2010 was also the year that Zurich won the National Payroll Giving Excellence Awards for Best Large Employer Campaign.  24% of Zurich’s employees currently donate to GAYE through their payroll.