Community

From working with Florence Nightingale to introduce district nursing to Liverpool to helping to found the University of Liverpool, the Rathbone family has a long history of involvement with the local community. We continue that proud tradition today.

We encourage employees to take up unpaid positions in local and national charities and voluntary organisations and offer two and a half days a year for employees to volunteer in the community. Members of staff are also encouraged to donate to charity in a tax efficient manner through the Give As You Earn (GAYE) payroll giving scheme administered by the Charities Aid Foundation.

The Rathbone Brothers Foundation, our charitable fund, considers requests for assistance and supports a number of charities. Meaningful donations have been made to:

• Arts Insight, which uses music and drama to equip children from less privileged backgrounds with the interpersonal skills to develop into confident adults with essential skills for life

• Urban Pursuit, which helps vulnerable young people in the Bristol area in danger of being excluded from mainstream society get back on track through adrenaline sports and adventure activities

• Merefield School in Southport, which provides education for pupils with profound learning difficulties.

Education and youth development

Our corporate responsibility programme continues to develop with a committed focus on youth development. The Rathbones Financial Awareness programme is a significant element of our investment in young people, which involves our investment managers delivering presentations to 16-24 year olds in our offices and at schools around the country.

The programme equips those attending with the necessary information to take responsibility for their finances at a young age. The programme is free and in 2014 alone we reached over 2,000 young people in both independent and state schools.

In addition to this programme, we sponsor the Chalke Valley History Festival for Schools and the Bang Goes the Borders science festival.

We also acknowledge the importance of sport in the lives of young people to teach key life skills and have partnerships with English Lacrosse and Lacrosse Scotland. Our involvement has had a significant impact on the development of the sport, particularly with the introduction of initiatives to encourage participation in the sport at community level.

Local communities

We are committed to supporting the communities in which we are based. Our regional offices get involved in their local communities and support charities and initiatives that they feel are important to the area.