Supporting communities

We want to ensure that our activities have a positive impact on the communities in which we work and on society as a whole.

Our goals

The goals for our work with communities are to:

  • support customers that find it hard to engage with us, recognising that different customers groups have different needs and that some may require additional help
  • encourage our people to undertake voluntary work, to share and develop their skills and gain a better understanding of our customers' needs
  • give our people the opportunity to support a range of charitable causes that are important to them, helping the wider community and staff engagement

Supporting customers who need extra help

We are committed to designing and delivering products and services that meet our customers' needs, to ensure they understand what's required of them and get it right first time. This means targeting and tailoring communication products and campaigns, for example:

  • in addition to traditional communication channels, we now provide information through webinars, e-learning products and bite-size YouTube videos
  • we have produced education packages targeted at a range of business sectors including the hair and beauty sector; childminders and foster carers; driving schools; farmers; the building industry; and the medical profession (doctors and dentists)
  • we work with the Prince's Trust Enterprise Programme and the Ministry of Justice prisoner rehabilitation teams to provide business start-up advice; supporting vulnerable young people into self-employment and helping to reduce prisoner reoffending rates
  • we work with other government departments to support unemployed people starting a business, through the Job Centre Plus Enterprise Clubs, and leavers from military service, as they go through the Ministry of Defence exit programme

Voluntary work

Our staff participate in a wide range of voluntary activities. The scope of our community involvement ensures a good fit with our expertise and business objectives and is focused on:

  • supporting our customers who need the most help, which gives us greater insight into the problems they face
  • supporting the government's youth employability agenda by encouraging volunteering in schools to help our future customers build careers and understand their tax and National Insurance commitments
  • using volunteering opportunities as a way to develop our own skills, experience and understanding

In 2011–12, we exceeded our target by giving more than 5,000 days to community activity. We have a similar level of commitment planned for each of the next three years.

Tax Matters

We have developed Tax Matters, an online interactive learning package which supports the National Curriculum with lesson plans for schools, to help students learn about tax and National Insurance. HMRC volunteers work with Local Education Business Partnerships and Young Enterprise in delivering the programme in secondary schools and educating young people about their future tax and financial responsibilities.

Prince's Trust

We are strong supporters of the Prince's Trust Team Programme, which brings together employed participants with young people who are long-term unemployed, to help them gain the confidence and skills they need to build new lives. At the same time, this activity provides our staff with challenging development opportunities and the chance to gain a better understanding of the needs and priorities of a range of diverse communities within our customer base. In 2011-12, HMRC volunteers made up 45 per cent of employed Prince's Trust participants, making HMRC the largest supplier to the programme.

Charitable giving

HMRC people support a range of charities, both locally and nationally, and raised £883,291 in 2011–12 for our three centrally supported charities. The biggest single benefactor was the Civil Service Benevolent Fund (Opens new window), which helps approximately 10,000 former and current civil servants each year by providing financial support, advice and information. HMRC people raised £760,528.57 for this charity through personal donations and fundraising events. A further £1,149 was collected for The Lifeboat Fund (Opens new window), which supports the work of the RNLI.

HMRC people also raised £121,613 for the BBC's 2011 Children in Need appeal and volunteers from some of our Contact Centres took donation calls from the public worth a further £318,519. A group of HMRC runners are training hard to support the 2012 Children in Need appeal by taking part in the 'Run to the Beat' half marathon in London on 28 October 2012

Payroll Giving

Payroll Giving allows people to contribute to charity directly out of their wages. In 2011-12, the number of HMRC people giving money in this way increased from 7,922 to 8,669. We were awarded the Payroll Giving Gold Quality Mark for the fifth year running in recognition of the continuing contributions of staff, who donated £872,825 to good causes through Payroll Giving.