CSR - Community First
The CSR Model of Version 1
Improving employment opportunities in our communities by leveraging technology and our skills
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"Talent is everywhere, opportunity is not!"
Community First is Version 1’s main corporate Social Responsibility Initiative and is driven locally by our employees. The overall objective of Community First activities is to improve employment opportunities in our communities by supporting awareness, education, skills and access by leveraging technology and our skills. A key component around Community First is that is it locally-driven so that each of our offices is allowed to support causes that they care about locally. Each Group has a local CSR Champion that is responsible for the budget and overseeing activities.
What does this mean at a practical level?
- Improving employability by helping groups that may have high barriers to employment
- Focusing on technology-related activities and enablement
- Directing our efforts at the communities in which we work
- Making a direct impact by contributing at a practical, tangible level
- While financial supports are available, prioritise activities that also use our skills and expertise
Our Community First Initiatives
- Mentoring
- Helping Local Schools
- Interview Training
- Grinds and Online Training
- Coding Initiatives
- Women's ReBoot/Women in Tech
- Tackling Youth Homelessness
- STEM Programmes
- Hardware Donation
- Community Engagement
Knutsford Academy - Year 7 Coding Club for Girls
Version 1 and Knutsford Academy teamed up to encourage girls in IT. We aimed to support Science and other STEM subjects in education and leverage Technology to improve education.
Cheshire East - Computers for Kids
Version 1 was thrilled to have helped 'The Computers for Kids' initiative, a worthy cause which aims to distribute recycled computers to children and families who need them.
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Killinarden Community School
The Community First Dublin team has been working with Killinarden Community School to develop a Career Progression Programme for a cohort of their Senior Students
SNEH Community Preschool
As part of Community First, we've partnered with the SNEH Community Preschool in Pune India. Smiling faces all round!
Version 1 was delighted to welcome the kids to our offices where they enjoyed drawing, dancing, singing rhymes and most importantly, eating cake!
We actively invest in youth education and are proud to provide support to this very worthy cause. For more about this fantastic cause, click below.
Gary Cheary - Volunteer of the Year
Championed by Version 1's Gary Cheary and as part of our Community First initiative, Version 1 helped fund and set up the “Sutton Park parkrun”.
Gary was recently awarded the “Volunteer of the Year” award at the Sutton Coldfield Sports Awards. The reason for winning the award was largely due to the long term positive effect the event is having on the health and well being of the local community.
Careers Evening
Some members of our Edinburgh offices attended a Careers Evening at a local secondary school aimed at pupils aged 13-18 and their parents to help inform their choices for the next stages in their education and beyond.
The evening was very well attended by pupils/parents who had a great experience with some really interesting conversations with the kids and their parents.
Udhyam Learning Foundation
The Version 1 team welcomed the children from the Udhyam Learning Foundation for a tour of the offices, to give them a real-world insight into how an IT company looks and
works.
