14 April 2020
Barclays Launches £100m COVID-19 Community Aid Package
The British Bank has launched a charity foundation to help deal with the medical and economic crisis caused by coronavirus (COVID-19) and in preparing for the recovery in its aftermath.
The financial institution has announced it is setting up The Barclays Foundation, which will initially provide a COVID-19 Community Aid Package of £100 million to charities working to support vulnerable people impacted by COVID-19, and to alleviate the associated social and economic hardship caused by the crisis.
The package is made up of two components.
Component 1 – Charity Partners Programme
- A £50 million fund that will be disbursed principally in the UK, but also in Barclays’ international markets, including the USA and India.
- Funding deployed via partnerships with trusted charities who can have a direct and immediate impact on the communities Barclays wishes to help in those geographies.
- Funding to be targeted at programmes as local to Barclays major locations as possible – the places where Barclays colleagues live and work, and where they can potentially help directly.
- The money will be used to help disadvantaged people (those suffering from social and economic deprivation as a consequence of COVID-19), the elderly and vulnerable communities most at risk from COVID-19, and to support NHS staff and other keyworker communities.
Component 2 – Employee Matched Donations Programme
- A £50 million commitment. Barclays will match an individual colleague’s donations to charities working to support vulnerable people impacted by COVID-19, and in alleviating the associated social and economic hardship caused by the crisis.
- A colleague may select a charity of his or her choice for their donation and matching programme, provided the charity is officially registered, and is engaged in supporting communities impacted by COVID-19.
- Un-utilised corporate funds (any balance of the £50 million) at the end of 12 months would be deployed to the Charity Partners Programme so that Barclays meets its overall public commitment of a £100 million contribution to COVID-19 Community Aid.
Barclays has promised to set out further programmes to assist businesses and households in the coming days and weeks.
The full announcement is available on Barclays website.