This year 850 UK employees from Royal & SunAlliance took part in National Volunteer Week and helped out for a day at schools, hospices and other charities. The insurer says that it reduced its carbon footprint by 10,000 tonnes in 2006 and offset the remainder of its emissions to become carbon-neutral. The firm works with the road-safety charity Brake, and carries out research on driving under the influence of drugs.

National Grid is the first official partner of Special Olympics Great Britain, which helps people with learning disabilities to take part in sporting events around the UK. The company is encouraging its employees to get involved through volunteering and coaching.

ABN AMRO supports 12 charities in the UK and encourages its employees to volunteer by paying them for seven hours of voluntary work a year with a charity of their choice. In 2006-07, staff raised more than £350,000 for a hospice. The bank donates £3.5 million a year to help communities around the world.

Nortel runs an environmentally-friendly bus service at its UK offices using five carbon-neutral buses run on recycled vegetable oil. The company says that ten per cent of its global workforce are full-time teleworkers and 85 per cent have the technology to work remotely, reducing carbon emissions. It also encourages its employees to get involved in its web-based education programme Nortel LearnIT.

“Count me in” is an education programme run at local libraries to improve the numeracy skills of preschool children. It’s funded by National Australia Group Europe, which is best known for the Clydesdale and Yorkshire Banks in the UK. Employees can take two days’ leave a year to volunteer.

Times Recommends

• Inspirational leadership
• How to get a new job
• The reluctant CEO