We are now a Living Wage Employer!

Charity People has recently become one of the first organisations in the sector to become an accredited Living Wage Employer. What does this mean I hear you ask? Well it means that every member of our organisation and every candidate that we place into a temporary role is guaranteed to earn not just the minimum wage but a ‘Living Wage’. The Living Wage is an hourly rate set independently and updated annually which is based on the cost of living in the UK. The Living Wage is currently set at £8.80 within London and £7.65 throughout the rest of the UK. We join several of our clients in signing up to the scheme which we believe helps to demonstrate our commitment to being an ethical employer.

The Living Wage campaign has been running for ten years and has lifted over 10,000 people out of poverty. An independent study of the business benefits of implementing the Living Wage policy in London found employers to believe it greatly enhances the quality of their staff’s work, reduces absenteeism and helps with staff retention. David Lale Chairman at Charity People said “We think that anyone temping for Charity People at one of our clients deserves to be paid the living wage as an absolute minimum. We think our clients will understand instinctively why this is important and we’re really happy to be a part of the Living Wage campaign.” To find out more about the scheme and how to become an accredited Living Wage Employer please visit: www.livingwage.org.uk.

Charity People helping to bring Christmas cheer to South London

At the end of last year some cheerful members of the Charity People team offered some well-received support to the Better Bankside Together at Christmas scheme. Teaming up with several other local businesses the Charity People office donated some much needed gifts including warm clothing, toiletries and food all of which were given to needy youngsters and the homeless in the local area. The team then took a trip down to the Better Bankside offices to help wrap the presents (all 1800 of them) which were then distributed to 11 local housing projects and to Beormund Primary School which helps children with special needs. Daniele Cohen of Better Bankside said: “There has been an amazing response from Bankside workers and residents to Together at Christmas, a record number of businesses hosted collection boxes and, I’m delighted to say, we will give more gifts than ever before to some of the most vulnerable individuals in Bankside.

Charity People wrapping Christmas Presents

Several charities are supported by the Together at Christmas scheme. They include the Robes Project which provides shelter and food, The Manna Centre (a drop-in centre for the homeless), Look Ahead, who work to help house young people and both Hopton’s Almshouses and Lucy Brown House who work with older people.

David Lale, Chairman at Charity People said: “The Christmas project at Better Bankside was a great way to support our local community and improve our wrapping skills in the run up to Christmas. We thoroughly enjoyed it and recommend the experience to other local businesses.”

More Christmas wrapping

Charity People aims to give back to the sector it supports and this was just one of a number of team fundraising and volunteering activities in 2013 which included a company donation to the Philippines Typhoon Appeal and our Chairman David Lale and Team Leader Neil Hogan slogging their way through 26 miles in Frankfurt for Tiny Tickers, the baby heart charity, in October.