News
We are a KPMG Charity Partner
5 Nov 2012
KPMG, the professional services firm, has announced new national charity partnerships to help tackle poor literacy skills and homelessness over the next two years.
Dyslexia Action and the National Literacy Trust will work together in an Action for Literacy partnership. We have responded to the changing charity landscape and recognised the value in joining together to help meet the needs of the communities we support. Our work has strong synergies with KPMG’s existing educational programmes as many KPMG staff act as reading or numbers partners in local primary schools, for example, and KPMG was one of the founding parties of the Every Child a Chance Trust which calculated the true cost to the UK of poor literacy. KPMG is also joint sponsor of the City Academy, Hackney in London.
KPMG hopes to add deeper value to all three charities by providing pro bono strategic and business advice. KPMG will also support the charities through a wide range of skills-based volunteering and fundraising activities. KPMG hopes to raise over £1 million for the three charities combined and provide a sustainable legacy through long-term support for their operations.
Commenting on the partnerships, Marianne Fallon, Head of Corporate Affairs at KPMG, said:
We really look forward to working with the National Literacy Trust, Dyslexia Action and Shelter. Literacy and homelessness are two great causes which have great resonance with KPMG. Increasing literacy skills and preventing homelessness are fundamental to rebuilding the UK economy, supporting routes to social mobility and increasing opportunities for all. They are a basic skill and a basic need which we believe are every young person’s right.
Jonathan Douglas, Director of the National Literacy Trust, and Kevin Geeson, Chief Executive of Dyslexia Action, said:
Literacy is key to escaping social exclusion. By improving reading, writing and communication skills people are more likely to have better employment opportunities and life chances. Dyslexia Action and the National Literacy Trust both work to boost literacy skills in disadvantaged areas and are excited by the opportunities available from working in our Action for Literacy partnership and alongside Shelter.
The funding, volunteering and pro bono support from KPMG will make a considerable impact on our ability to improve the lives of thousands more children and young people with literacy difficulties.
A film about the new partnerships can be viewed at www.kpmg.com/uk/nationalcharities
