Habitat for Humanity is an innovative
employee-volunteering scheme to
build homes for low-income families
and provide them with interest-free
mortgages.
The US-based scheme has drawn
extraordinary levels of support from
our employees in Indianapolis and
is now firmly entrenched as part of
the company’s civil involvement
programme in the state.
Since 1997 they have built six houses.
In one project, 175 employees built a
five-bedroom house for a local family
in just eight working days – setting
a record in 2002 from the usual build
time of two weeks.
Typically beginning with an empty
site, Rolls-Royce volunteers are closely
supervised by a professional builder
who provides the detailed
specifications. Rolls-Royce is a leading
sponsor of materials and labour and
employees can volunteer their time
in working hours to help.
One Rolls-Royce volunteer said:
‘I’ve learnt that good teamwork and
a sense of humour are qualities you
need in abundance when faced with
building a house! Ultimately it’s the
smiles on the families’ faces when
they see their home completed that
keeps us coming back.’
| Employees in Indianapolis take part in Habitat for Humanity every year to build a house for a low-income family. |
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In Brazil we have been working
with Ação Comunitária, a charity
providing practical education courses
for young people living in the Favelas
in Rio de Janeiro. Our investment has
supported 80 courses in computer
skills to 1,200 students, since 1999.
| Ação Comunitária provides practical IT courses for young people living in the Favellas in Rio de Janeiro. |
Young people receive their qualification in computer skills via Ação Comunitária. |
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Rolls-Royce in China donated RMB 50,000 (equivalent to £4,000) to the country’s Red Cross Society during the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak in 2003. The funds were used to buy equipment to help bring relief to those people in outlying regions with limited access to medical support.
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