Communities 

Many of the businesses that make up the present-day Tate & Lyle have been part of the communities in which they operate for more than a hundred years. Our long history means that in many places, we’re a significant employer in the community, and we have always aimed to be a force for good.

As our business expands into new areas of the world, we want to continue to play a positive role in all the communities in which we operate. Over the years, we have developed a Group-wide community involvement programme. The programme involves building long-term relationships with local partners to deliver a shared objective: establishing strong, safe and healthy communities by investing time and resources into projects that directly address local needs.

 

Working with local partners
Each year we support more than 200 organisations, ranging from long-established charities to fledgling community organisations. We aim to select projects that target local needs and deliver the most positive impact, and to ensure that ultimately our community involvement work reflects our broader responsibilities as a company.

This support takes many forms, depending on the needs of the organisation, and includes funding, employee volunteering, consultancy, donation of products and equipment and, for selected partners, free use of the Company's warehousing and office facilities.

Employee volunteering
Our community partnerships are well supported by our employees around the world, many of whom take part in our programmes. Their involvement is vital in maintaining the long-term good relationships we have developed with these communities, and makes Tate & Lyle a company for which they are proud to work.

The benefits of volunteering are twofold. Not only does it bring skills and experience from the workplace into the community that corporate funding alone cannot achieve, it also benefits our employees by offering significant personal development opportunities.

We encourage employees to give up some of their personal time for their local community. For example, employees help run clubs for young people, help at schools or give their time and specialist knowledge to local charities.

Donating to charity
Each year we commit a certain amount of money to charity, although we do not usually give donations to national charities, animal welfare organisations, appeals from individuals or religious groups. Our aims are to select projects that target local needs and deliver the most positive impact. We focus our support in the following way:

  • Education – 50%;
  • Environment – 25%;
  • Health – 15%; and
  • Arts – 10%.

We also encourage employees to raise money for charity by offering match funding, as long as the charity broadly fits the Company’s Charitable Donations policy.

Donations in 2011
In the financial year to 31 March 2011, Tate & Lyle’s total worldwide charitable donations were £346,000 (2010 – £714,000) this decrease is largely due to the sale of the Group's EU Sugar Refining operations.

Reaching out to the community – and to colleagues

Reaching out to the community – and to colleagues

“When you volunteer, it not only makes you feel good about the work you are doing in the community, but it also creates opportunities to learn more about each other,” says Angie Muether, Associate Food Scientist.

Angie helps organise outreach activities from our Decatur, US site, supporting schools and community programmes in the area – and drawing colleagues closer together. As part of the scheme, Associate Food Scientist Adrienne Stucky is one of around 20 US R&D volunteers who spend four Saturdays a year serving lunches at a community programme called the Good Samaritan Inn. “This experience gave me a different perspective on the value of food and how most of us take its availability for granted,” Adrienne says. “It made me feel even better about the work Tate & Lyle is doing to make food more nutritious and affordable.”