On the day that we are proud to announce a further £3m of donations to the National Business Response Network (NBRN), HRH The Prince of Wales and HRH The Duchess of Cornwall will visit Asda, a Business in the Community member which has supported communities through the NBRN, to see the impact of responsible businesses during the pandemic. The NBRN is a Business in the Community initiative linking business resources to community needs arising from the pandemic in the right place, at the right time.
The Covid-19 Support Fund is supported by members of the Association of British Insurers (ABI), British Insurance Brokers’ Association (BIBA), Lloyd’s, The London Market Group (LMG) and the International Underwriting Association (IUA).
To date, more than 1,700 requests for help have been matched with business support by the NBRN, benefiting millions of people.
Asda has been a member of The Prince’s Responsible Business Network since 1985. Its commitment to tackling poverty through its Fight Hunger campaign has long been an inspiration to Business in the Community members and through the NBRN, it is helping alleviate town and city food hunger through local shops.
The National Lottery Community Fund, the largest funder of community activity in the UK, and The UPS Foundation have also joined as NBRN supporting partners, donating £414k and £42k respectively. They join a growing network of partners including Nominet, the Voluntary and Community Sector Emergencies Partnership, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport and the CBI.
The NBRN focuses its activity on four key areas and is thus helping communities navigate their way through the coronavirus pandemic:
· Food: Ensuring people have continued access to food
· Technology: Support to enable children to continue learning, and older people to stay connected to families
· Community support: Support to vulnerable groups and older people to enable continued access to food, healthcare, social interaction and other essentials
· Small businesses: Creating resources with advice and practical tools specifically for small businesses; providing business continuity and wellbeing support through mentoring for small businesses
Recent examples of community needs matched with business offers of support:
· Children in low-income families are struggling to learn from home, and risk being left behind. With libraries closed across the country, access to computers and the internet is difficult. BP responded to our request, recycling 100 laptops to help children keep learning.
· People facing homelessness have been hit especially hard from this outbreak. With libraries closed and internet access being essential for accessing vital services, being able to connect to the internet has never been so important. Tesco responded to our request by donating nearly 800 mobile phones, preloaded with SIMs to 12 charities across the UK.
· Throughout the pandemic, pressure on food banks has mounted as more and more people face food insecurity and have become reliant on their services. We connected LNER, which donated 10,000 sandwiches each week for the past 10 weeks, with organisations like FareShare which are helping keep people across the UK fed.
· With schools and libraries closed, children that cannot access the internet at home are at risk of missing out on vital lessons, the ability to complete homework and to see their friends. We secured the support of the John Laing Charitable Trust which donated £6,000. The money was used by schools across the West Midlands for MiFi devices and stationery packs to ensure children could continue receiving their education.
Community organisations in need of help and businesses wanting to offer their support can visit the National Business Response Network online board of needs and offers: www.businessresponsecovid.org.uk
Yvonne Braun, Director of Policy, Long-Term Savings and Protection at the Association of British Insurers, said:
“Our sector set up the Covid-19 Support Fund to help those hardest hit by the crisis and BITC’s National Business Response Network is connecting businesses who can help on the ground with vulnerable communities where help is most needed.
“We’re delighted to become a founding partner of the Network and look forward to working with them on this fantastic initiative.”
Be the first to comment