Here at PFG, our purpose is to help put people on a path to a better everyday life. We’re passionate about improving communities and creating spaces for development opportunities, which is why we recently took on a team challenge at Café West Community Centre in Allerton, Bradford. Our Digital Transformation team completely revamped and transformed the Community Centre garden in just one day.

This new space will help people in the community hone new gardening and growing skills and move forward into better everyday lives. For us, supporting the communities we serve is about more than just helping people out. The actions we take and the causes we support are specifically chosen to improve the lives of people in communities close to where our offices are based.

Our Corporate Affairs Assistant, Carolyn Binns, said: “The team worked incredibly hard to transform an overgrown area into a great new growing space for the community. They cleared overgrowth, dismantled old raised beds, removed existing topsoil and weeds, levelled the ground and built a large ‘U’ shaped raised bed. It was a fantastic result they should all be extremely proud of.”

Our Social Impact Programme, allows us to invest in activities and initiatives which seek to address key factors which limit some aspects of individuals and the community they live in. Our programme splits community investment across customers and colleagues, education and community. We’re delighted to be able to assist community foundations in addressing social inclusion and providing opportunities for social mobility that are relevant to our customers and their communities.

The Café West gardening team challenge allowed us to create a space for young people and adults which will help boost their skills, confidence and aspirations to more widely participate in society and work towards a brighter future. Our work in the community also supports our Sustainable Development Goals which relate to no poverty, quality education, decent work, economic growth and reduced inequalities. We’re really proud of our continued work in the communities and we can already see the positive changes we’re creating.

Last year, we invested £1.4m to support community programmes, money advice programmes and social research. Our colleagues volunteered 425 hours during work time and we donated a staggering £9,938 to colleague fundraising efforts. Furthermore, we distributed grants totalling £307k to 51 community organisations. Read more about how we invest in our communities here.