Leading women's charity supported with finance and IT expertise from GE Capital's 'Building through Diversity' Programme
London, 30 November, 2012: GE Capital has joined forces with Platform 51 to help the charity improve and streamline its back office functions, freeing up time for staff to deliver more front-line support for women and girls in England and Wales.
Founded over 160 years ago as the Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA), Platform 51 is a leading women's charity delivering support programmes that help women and girls work through specific life challenges and regain their sense of self-worth. Programmes delivered cover issues relating to mental health, domestic violence, crime and justice, poverty, childcare and education as well as self-esteem and confidence-building to enter the workforce. The charity operates from centres across England and Wales and via outreach in schools, community centres, youth clubs, mother and baby units and prisons.
After close consultation with the charity, GE Capital has pledged to provide £24,000 to be invested in new finance and IT systems. GE Capital expert volunteers and mentors will also work with the charity to provide:
- Advice on improvements to financial processes, and project management on the installation of a new finance and accounting system
- Assessment of the charity's IT infrastructure, and the donation and installation of IT hardware from the GE Capital inventory worth an additional £17,500 to boost internet access and network connectivity across its centres in England and Wales
- 'Train the trainer' workshops for charity staff in project management, and on software packages such as Outlook, Excel, and PowerPoint
Deborah Mattinson, Chair of Platform 51 said: "We warmly welcome the business skills and mentoring input from GE Capital which we know will have benefit for us all at Platform 51. The investment support we are receiving from GE Capital will enable us to focus more time on much needed initiatives to support vulnerable girls and women by cutting time spent on administration. This support is invaluable as we look to increase our reach and the number of women we can support in 2013".
John Jenkins, Chief Executive Officer of GE Capital UK, advised: "Platform 51 is an organisation that makes a real difference to the lives of girls and women across the country, so we are delighted to be supporting such a worthy cause. We hope that through our efforts we can build a strong partnership which will create a positive and lasting impact on the organisation".
GE Capital's global 'Building Through Diversity' programme is part of the company's commitment to strengthening communities through philanthropy and volunteering. GE Capital puts its resources and employees' expertise to work, in order to use their professional skills to help the community, and bring best practices back to the business. The programme focuses on two key areas: supporting disadvantaged youth and empowering women and has recently been expanded to four major markets in Western Europe, with projects tailored for each country.
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Zoe Chambers Tom Steiner
[email protected]
GE Capital EMEA
[email protected]
+44-(0)-208-185-2494
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