Wesleyan’s Head of Customer Proposition, David Nottingham, shares his pride on the launch of the new Wesleyan Foundation.
I’m so excited today to see the launch of the Wesleyan Foundation. To me this exemplifies what we as a mutual are all about – the ability to give financial support and assistance to causes that are important to our members and the communities in which they work.
As with any new initiatives, this doesn’t just happen. We have taken this through member research, key stakeholder engagement, external advice and guidance to ensure the fund and the structure we have implemented is best for both Wesleyan and the groups that we wish to reach.
This helps build on our charitable work to date but importantly we now have a fund that members themselves can influence and contribute their ideas to as well of course as our employees.
As we worked through the structure and the different operating models, we were delighted to discover the Heart Of England Community Foundation. A group that were already making a big difference locally but also giving us access to the wider national community foundations which will enable us to distribute monies further than our traditional Midlands base. I’m also delighted that we have implemented a structure where we can not only support themes and projects that resonate and support our professions but also where members can suggest good causes and charities that they feel passionate about within the health, education , innovation and / or social development areas.
From initial concept papers and working through to financial and procurement assessment. It’s been a team effort across the business, all underpinned with a desire to ‘do the right thing’. We care is a principle that we feel strongly about within the Society and this type of activity embodies our values. And as testament to our brand positioning of ‘We are all about you’ it’s great to help launch such a significant programme that we really think can make a difference.
In many ways the work starts from today. Although we will be announcing the first recipient of funding at our AGM today , the key will be to make sure we maintain the momentum and ensure that we engage our members to make sure that the monies reach our intended targets.
I feel really proud to have helped get us this far and the chance to make a real difference to our members, employees and communities. There’s a real sense of pride within the organisation as we launch today and it’s just one of many exciting new developments that we are working on as we seek to build further success, security and returns for our members.
To learn more about the Foundation, please visit www.wesleyan.co.uk/foundation