ANNUAL REPORT & ACCOUNTS - Coventry Building Society

These findings are supported by independentassessment.In 2012, the Society had its triennial assessmentby Investors in People. The assessment concludedthat, ‘The vision and values that accompany the coreprinciples of ‘Members First’ are firmly embeddedwithin the culture of the organisation. Without exception,people believe they are central to the way that decisionsare made and services delivered’ (IIP report 2012).As a result, the Society was awarded ‘Gold’ status, beingone of the first large banks or building societies to havereceived this recognition.The importance that we place on skilled andknowledgeable staff was reinforced by a strongperformance in the 2012 National Training Awards,in which the Society won the regional award for largeemployers and was highly commended at the nationallevel, being placed in the top three of all UK employers.Support for communitiesThis report should review the all round contributionmade by the Society. I mentioned corporate socialresponsibility earlier and I believe that we must alsoplay our part in supporting the communities we serve.Part of this is through our continued physical presenceand we remain committed to our network of branches,continuing to invest in the services they provide.of 2008, has already resulted in total donations fromthe Society to the Poppy Appeal of over £7.5 million, ofwhich £1.9 million was donated in 2012.We have now adopted The Royal British Legion as ourcorporate charity for the next three years, and sincethis decision was made the Society has supported TheLegion in many additional ways, including the provisionof premises during the Poppy Appeal campaign andincreased volunteer activities, for example supportingevents at remembrance gardens, and Poppy Appealcollections.This has followed the completion during 2012 of our verysuccessful three year partnership with Age UK. Throughthe actions of staff and the support of members we notonly raised in excess of £180,000 but supported a numberof campaigns designed to improve the experience ofelderly people in the UK. The relationships formed,particularly at a branch level, continue to be extremelyhelpful in supporting some of our members and providingan insight to our staff of the issues they face.Making an impact at a local level has been a themethroughout the year with many successful communitypartnerships now established between branches, headoffice teams and community groups. Further supportcontinues to be provided through the Coventry BuildingSociety Charitable Foundation which has donated£830,000 since it was launched.CHIEF EXECUTIVE’SREVIEWHowever, it is a harsh reality of the economicenvironment that charities and local community groupsare suffering a downturn in income as demand for theirservices rise.I am pleased to report that we continue to expand thesupport we offer to these groups, both through stafffundraising and the work of staff volunteers, withthe total community investment supported by theseactivities increasing to a new record total of £2.3 million.These figures include the significant donations madeto The Royal British Legion’s Poppy Appeal as a resultof our portfolio of Poppy affinity accounts. The successof this portfolio, which was launched towards the endThe commitment and enthusiasm of members of staff insupporting our community activities is exceptional. It isseen across the board in support of national fundraisingevents like the 2012 Children in Need appeal, whenalmost all staff contributed to raising over £40,000,beating last year’s record as they went.It is also seen in long-standing commitments tolocal schools and debt agencies to improve financialawareness amongst those who need it most. If thelessons of the financial crisis are to be learned then thistype of support is becoming ever more important.11