Four businesses open their doors to other businesses to showcase best practice on Neighbourhood Renewal

A range of local businesses were invited to attend one of four Opening Doors events in March, funded by the Department for Communities and Local Government. The events profiled a number of last year's Big Tick winners whose community orientated programmes have a specific impact on areas of deprivation. Opening Doors delegates had the opportunity to see first hand how company action had contributed to Neighbourhood Renewal outcomes.

Morgan Stanley hosted the first event, profiling their Docklands Schools Programme. This programme began as a straightforward funding relationship with two schools in 1995. It is now a robust programme of support and employee volunteering targeting schools in some of the poorest areas of the UK. The day consisted of a presentation from Morgan Stanley giving an overview of their engagement with schools and a trip to St Edmund's school for delegates to see the impact of Morgan Stanley's 'Reading Partners' scheme on the pupils themselves. St Edmund's is based in the heart of London Docklands, it has 205 pupils, 72 different languages are spoken, and many families are now in the third generation without employment.

The second visit showcased an East London Business Alliance (ELBA) scheme, which promotes the regeneration of Shoreditch through corporate employee volunteering. On Tuesday 27th March a group of 15 CSR professionals and Government representatives visited Project Shoreditch - a partnership project with ELBA, UBS, Deutsche Bank, Linklaters and the Shoreditch Trust. This is part of the Shoreditch New Deal for Communities programme. Project Shoreditch was awarded a  BITC Awards for Excellence Big Tick and the City of London Dragon Award for Economic Reneneration last year. During the day delegates had the opportunity to meet with employee volunteers from the partner organisations, CSR practitioners, Government representatives and community partners to learn about the achievements of the partnership. This also included visits to St John the Baptist School and the Blue Hut Youth Centre, two community partners who benefited from the programme.

The third event was hosted by Jaguar's Education Partnerships Centre in Coventry. Jaguar Cars is part of the Premier Automotive Group and employs 7,000 people across four sites. Jaguar Education Business Partnership Centres have involved and inspired over 32,000 young people since the centres, all of which are in areas of deprivation, first opened in 2000. Jaguar's education programme aims to raise achievement and aspirations by giving young people from all backgrounds the opportunity to learn in an exciting, motivating and varied environment and gain hands on experience in the world of work. A series of modules have been developed in line with the national curriculum and the centres offer a number of half and full day courses for local pupils that support qualifications such as GCSEs, NVQs and BTecs.

The centres also run programmes specifically designed for the gifted and disaffected students and those at risk of exclusion. In 2005, Jaguar committed approximately £894,000 to this education programme. Since centres opened, around 2,500 employees have been involved in supporting education activities. Pupils have benefited enormously with teachers reporting increased confidence, better motivation and improved performance in subjects. One school reported a 20% improvement in attendance as a result of visits to the Education Partnership Centres. The centres also contribute significantly to teachers' professional development.

The Bradford Business Broker event on the 30th March was hosted by Yorkshire Water at their conference centre facilities at Esholt, Bradford. The visit was focused on the Newlands Community Business Club, a partnership between Yorkshire Water, Newlands Local Enterprise Ltd and Bradford Vision, the area's Local Strategic Partnership. The programme combines a mentoring programme for a range of social enterprises and local community organisations with networking events and seminars on key business issues delivered by senior managers at Yorkshire Water. The club is a forum where community enterprise and private business can share best practice, skills and experience. The popularity of the programme has seen 25 participating organisations with 14 directly mentored by senior managers from Yorkshire Water. Now in its third year the club has evolved to support the participating organisations through PQASSO quality system. During the Opening Doors visit delegates heard from key partners on the structure, business benefits and community impact of the programme and had the opportunity to meet with participating mentors and community organisations at the Ravenscliffe Gateway community centre.

Phil Woolas, Minister for Local Government at the Department for Communities and Local Government, said: "I am very pleased that the Department for Communities and Local Government is sponsoring the Opening Doors programme to demonstrate the impact that business can have in raising aspirations and regenerating our most deprived areas. Lasting regeneration needs to be based on healthy economies and the private sector is fundamental in progress. There are clear benefits to business from engaging with their community, as the Opening Doors programme will demonstrate. I very much hope that these practical examples of successful collaboration with community schemes will inspire more businesses to get involved, and encourage those already involved to do more."