DMGT and the Community

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Corporate Responsibility
The Community

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Community involvement is integral to our business, as well as to the personal motivation of our employees. We donate money, time and in-kind donations such as radio airtime and advertising space, and staff actively give time to activities, including fundraising and acting as trustees.

DMGT Charity Committee Principles

Fundraising

The use of media channels and activities for fundraising is driven through participation in the communities that we serve and the concerns and contributions of our audience.

Group charitable donations are allocated by a Charities Committee at DMGT, as well as being made on a smaller scale by divisional and local management. The Committee prefers to make donations to media and local charities where there is an employee representative who will sponsor and report back on the impact the allocation has had.

Community

The use of media channels and activities for fundraising is driven through participation in the communities that we serve and the concerns and contributions of our audience.

Daily Mail and General Trust plc

West London Action for Children

For the past three years DMGT have supported West London Action for Children a local charity which offers a range of counselling and therapy services for children in need, and their families, in the London boroughs of Hammersmith & Fulham and Kensington & Chelsea. The charity supports families under stress to develop their confidence and skills to cope with the ordinary and challenges of family life.

The Rothermere American Institute

During the course of the academic year, the Rothermere American Institute has held a number of events of broad format and scale, and with a variety of aims, drawing in academics and teachers from the US and UK. During term-time, the RAI hosted weekly core academic activities: a workshop run by and for graduate students in American History; the American History Research Seminar series; and the US Politics Research Seminar. Visiting speakers have included former members of the US House of Representatives – Congressman Dan Miller (R-Florida) and Carlos Romero-Barceló (New Progressive Party, Puerto Rico and former governor), as well as Brian Balogh, Associate Professor at the University of Virginia, and Peter Onuf, Visiting Harmsworth Professor in American History.

Other major events include the Annual Meeting of the American Politics Group, at which there were a number of high calibre presentations by graduate students and Richard Carwardine, Rhodes Professor of American History at Oxford, gave the John Lees Memorial Lecture; a celebration of the work of John Updike in collaboration with the Ruskin School of Fine Art drew an audience of 90; a post-graduate conference on The Nixon Years; and the annual Esmond Harmsworth Lecture in American Arts and Letters, delivered by Christopher Bigsby, Professor of American Studies at the University of East Anglia. In conjunction with the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission, the RAI hosted The Global Lincoln, its major conference of the year; and a two day colloquium on Canada, NATO and Transatlanticism was also hosted and supported by the Institute.

Media Trust

Media Trust works in partnership with DMGT and other corporate members, to build effective communications in the voluntary and community sector. DMGT has been a Media Trust corporate member for almost 10 years, helping charities and voluntary organisations to improve their communications skills and strategies.

Every year senior editorial staff volunteered their expertise and time to give pro bono advice to charities by speaking at Media Trust seminars and workshops around the UK and volunteering directly with charities to provide creative communications advice.

Newspapers within the Associated Newspapers group gave pro Bono advertisements and lozenges covering Volunteering For All, Time Banking, Disability Campaigns and International Day of the Volunteer.

RMS

Researchers at Risk Management Solutions have begun a two-phase project to address the humanitarian impacts of future earthquakes on six of the most at-risk South American capital cities. The objective of the first phase of the project is to quantify the humanitarian and economic risk for each of the capital cities. These impacts will be provided in the form of expected losses for a specific “likely” scenario earthquake and in a probabilistic format (exceedance probability curves). Impacts to be quantified include: total economic losses, potential fatalities, potential serious injuries, and the number of displaced households. These quantitative analyses are designed to provide objective and comparative data on humanitarian impacts for the various cities. The project’s goal is to focus attention on this increasing problem throughout South America and much of the developing world. In the second phase of the project we plan to implement mitigation solutions through partnerships with public agencies, NGOs and other local stakeholders to promote mitigation actions that lead to life safety and reduce future losses and suffering.

DMGI

Environmental Data Resources

During the year Environmental Data Resources (EDR) re-launched commonground, the global social network for environmental due diligence professionals with many new features that will enable it to serve a broader audience.

In its first year, commonground harnessed the membership and expertise of several thousand environmental professionals representing more than 1,600 companies worldwide. The goal of the new platform, according to Gaines, is to broaden the depth and breadth of discussions and networking among environmentally-focused individuals ranging from property due diligence professionals, attorneys, appraisers, lenders, industry leaders, market experts and the next generation of environmental professionals entering the workforce from leading colleges and universities.

New features include Due Diligence University, an e-learning component; a member’s ability to form public and private groups; an expanded job board; a global industry provider directory, market metrics and research, and much more.

Additional improvements to the award-winning community include advanced search functionality, simplified navigation, industry community calendars, targeted industry and market news, content ratings and reviews, plus an easy to follow support section for new social networkers.

Launched in April 2008, commonground includes professionals from 67 countries and all 50 states. Membership is free and the benefits include real time answers from peers and experts on pressing and often challenging questions, access to ongoing discussions and blogs in which ideas are shared and debated on market issues, trends, and legislation, and hundreds of focused documents, research reports, and articles.

Hobsons

Hobsons has worked with educational charities for nearly a decade to help build schools and educational facilities that help young people in developing countries get the learning and life skills they need to achieve their potential.

For the last five years, the company has worked with the charity Plan International and together they have built schools in countries including Guatemala, Kenya, Vietnam and Bolivia.

In 2009, Hobsons' Plan fundraising efforts helped the Techiman community of central Ghana.

Techiman community is a rural community of peasant farmers located in the Mfansteman District in the Central Region of Ghana. Plan Ghana estimates that the average income of those living in Techiman is $14 a month, less than $1 per day. The community is currently being supported by Plan Ghana and already has some basic facilities including a pre school with classroom furniture, latrine, and play equipment, as well as a junior school. Latrines have also been built for some households, however there is no primary school block which is proving detrimental for the educational opportunities for primary age children.

The provision of good infrastructure is fundamental to ensuring quality education for children, whilst creating an environment for effective teaching and learning. This will in turn increase enrolment and retention of children, and will attract good teachers to the school. In Techiman, Ghana the community currently has no primary school block, and the primary school pupils are occupying the pre school premises. This has proved inadequate for providing effective teaching due to noise and disturbances from other pupils. Some of the pupils even have to study in a temporary shed due to the lack of facilities, while most of the classrooms have bad roofs with little protection from the elements.

The structure of all the buildings has also become dangerous for teachers and pupils, and school work often has to come to a halt because of heavy rainfall. When this happens classrooms are often flooded which can further disrupt study. While there have also been reports of reptiles and snakes in classrooms which can be very disruptive. Many children are also scared to attend school because of the fear of being attacked by snakes. Consequently absenteeism is rife among both teachers and pupils, while parents in the community feel reluctant to enrol their children in the school. As a result academic performance in this school has slipped, and in 2007 the Basic Education Certificate Examination result showed that the average pass for the School was 54%. In addition to the problems highlighted above the school also lacks appropriate furniture in the classroom, and pupils often use benches and furniture from home during lessons. Due to the above problems in the school many teachers who come to the work at the school often leave quickly and the children are left without qualified teaching to support them.

The project aims to provide the following facilities and equipment for 127 children aged between 6-14 and 7 teachers in the Techiman community. A new primary school block including 6 class rooms, library, and teachers office Library books, School latrine, Water storage facility, providing safe drinking water for pupils and teachers, Furniture, Computer equipment, Improved hygienic conditions.

Landmark

Landmark have designed a CSR policy which states that the company believes that a responsible approach to developing relationships between companies and the communities they serve, national or local, is a vital part of delivering business success. How they interact with the world in which they operate determines their place within it.

Landmark has matched £8,400 of employee charity initiatives. This has included 3 employees who cycled from Land's End to John O'Groats and 1 who climbed up Mount Everest base camp.

Also, Landmark has encouraged employees to reduce the amount of driving to work by providing 6 bikes for free as well as 3 "pool" bikes for use at lunchtimes. The figures below highlight the improvements in "greener/alternative" ways of travelling to work.

2007
Driving a car alone 62%
Cycle to work 8%
Car share 16%
Bus or train 6%

2008
Driving a car alone 43%
Cycle to work 12%
Car share 23%
Bus or train 12%

Genscape

Genscape employees were given an opportunity to volunteer a day of work helping build a habitat for humanity house.

Trepp

Trepp is committed to finding new ways to further its corporate and social responsibility efforts within its community and take steps to increase its pro-environmental programs. The following are the initiatives they have taken to date. This year, they plan to increase their community involvement and continue to look for environmentally-friendly options to the company’s current processes.

Trepp was presented with an opportunity take part in the ABC program, the oldest, largest and only national program providing academically talented minority children with access to some of the US’s finest college preparatory schools, both private and public. It was to offer a summer internship to a student from the New York area who is attending school in Connecticut. For a six-week period this summer, they had a student join their team. He was assigned to projects with their Bond Finance and Product Teams as well as assisting with general office and Sales support.

The experience was mutually beneficial and Trepp will continue to work with the ABC Summer Intern Program.

Trepp have recently changed their drinking water service from bottled to filtered, eliminating the use of large plastic water bottles and transport from a commercial vendor. In addition to environmental benefits, they have also reduced the cost by approximately 80%.

Recycling is done in coordination with Trepp’s building management. Currently, they have programs in place to recycle aluminium cans, glass and plastic bottles as well as paper and cardboard.

For its core business, Trepp gathers and reviews data from updated monthly remittance reports provided by bond trustees for over 1,500 transactions. As part of this monthly process, these reports automatically generate and print. Each of the printed reports was approximately 40 pages, of which only a subset was needed. The product team wrote a program to print only the pages needed resulting in a significant annual savings of over 500,000 sheets of paper, toner and printer wear and tear. This is one example of staff being aware and proactive in their efforts to be environmentally responsible.

Trepp offers complimentary access to its data information through TreppWire™ and trial periods of CMBS Analytics to benefit research programs/projects at higher education institutions. Among these institutions are Furman Center at New York University; Wharton School of Business; Columbia University; University of Connecticut; and University of Florida.

Euromoney Institutional Investor

Orissa

In March 2009 Euromoney celebrated its fundraising efforts with the grand opening of the Euromoney Paediatric Eye Care Centre at the Kalinga Eye Hospital & Research Centre in Dhenkanal, Orissa, India.

Euromoney has supported this project since its inception in 2006, with staff and company exceeding the target funds needed to build the centre which now provides a fully trained paediatric eye care team within the child friendly & fully equipped facility inside of the main hospital.

Opened by staff, this fantastic achievement of Euromoney employees will have a massive reach & impact both inside of Dhenkanal and the surrounding districts. This will be by providing the critical eye care surgeries needed by the thousands of children in the region with poor eye sight.

Charity dinners

A number of charity dinners were held during the year. For instance this year, Institutional Investor Journals sponsored a table at the Annual Auction4Kids Gala held at the New York Stock Exchange. This event supports Per Scholas’ Comp2Kids program, which supplies computer literacy training as well as home computers for low income students and schools in the Bronx, Brooklyn, and Manhattan. Each year, Per Scholas endeavours to provide 3,000 computers to these students and schools. Many donated items were auctioned at the Gala, and several hundred thousand dollars were raised as a result. Institutional Investor Journals through the Journal of Trading contributed $2,500 for the table sponsorship, and the II Journals attendees and invited guests participated and won several auction items, contributing to the cause.

Help for flood victims in the Philippines

Euromoney donated £10,000 to the Red Cross appeal to help victims of the tragic floods in the Philippines. The funds will be used to create eight temporary homes for families who've lost their houses in the two typhoons that have hit so far.

Running Club

This year, Euromoney Institutional Investor has set up a running group for charitable purposes. It is the intention that the club will complete charity runs on a regular basis, the first, which had over 30 runners, was in September 2009. So far the club has raised over £7,500 with more donations still coming in.

Scholarships

To mark its 40th Anniversary, Euromoney has announced a program of international financial publishing scholarships - "The Euromoney Sergeant Scholarships". Each scholar is given the opportunity to work for Euromoney for 2 months with accommodation, stipend for living and return airfares provided to successful candidates. These candidates will be trained by senior staff and will work on writing articles, researching data and marketing work. Following the scholarship programme permanent job offers may be available.

BCA have also committed for 3 years to give a scholarship to a finance student at the John Molson School of Business at Concordia University.

BCA sponsored a walk for breast cancer and one of BCA's employees is doing 12,000 km on a bike through South America for the David Suzuki Foundation. (www.12000km.org). BCA also donated $10,000 to a local hospital to purchase neurological equipment.

And in May last year, Gulf raised $2,000 through a t-shirt drive for Ilene Hartmann an employee of for Gulf for 28 years who sadly died in January 2009. The money raised was donated to the pancreatic cancer research. Gulf also participated in the charity Sprint for Life 5k run/walk to raise money for cancer research.

Christmas charity event

Each year a local charity or community group is selected for employees to donate Christmas gifts. This year the donations were given to a shelter for single mothers that housed 27 mothers and 62 children. They were invited to participate in a party at which they were all given gifts that they had requested in letters to Santa.

Blood drive

Each year Euromoney’s US offices conduct an annual blood drive, 2009 was the most successful to date with more than 97 employees donating blood.

Associated Newspapers

Payroll Giving

Associated Newspapers participates in the on-line Payroll Giving scheme, working in partnership with Workplace Giving UK which enables staff to make more tax efficient personal donations to their preferred charities. In addition, recipient charities save the administration costs of applying for Gift Aid on the donations.

Matched Sponsorship

To encourage individual staff’s personal fundraising efforts in aid of charities, Associated Newspapers offers a sliding scale of matched donations up to £250 for £1,000 or more raised by an individual. In the last year, charities as diverse as Cancer Research UK, the Royal British Legion, St Columba’s Hospice, the Anthony Nolan Trust and Deafness UK have benefited.

Opera Holland Park - Free Tickets Scheme for Young People

For the third successive year Associated Newspapers was a sponsor of the Free Tickets Scheme for Young People to attend a performance of the 2009 Opera Holland Park season. Working in association with the Evening Standard, the scheme makes available tickets for young people (aged nine-18) across London to attend one of the operas in Holland Park during the summer. An annual scheme, the main aim is to introduce opera to young people and encourage those who may never have experienced it to give it a try. It also benefits young people who are interested in opera but cannot afford to attend.

Earls Court Festival

Associated Newspapers again made a contribution to this annual summer event, which takes place in the Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea, the area in which the Company has its headquarters.

Fundraising Fairs for Books for Schools and Other Charities

Regular fundraising fairs are held in Northcliffe House for staff. Either a percentage is taken from sales or a stand hire levy made, which goes towards buying books for schools in the areas in which the Company operates. For example, in the last year anti-bullying books and projects, produced by the Police Community Clubs of Great Britain, have been supplied to local schools.

In addition, through the regular beauty sales held in YOU magazine’s offices, donations have been made to Asha Nepal, Parkside FC, British Association for Adoption and Fostering, and the Anthony Nolan Trust.

h4. Work Experience Programmes

Associated Newspapers receives many requests from students seeking work experience with the Company in areas ranging from Editorial and Advertising to Promotions, Marketing, Legal and Accounts. During the spring/summer of 2009 more than 50 students were taken on in various departments. Working with Media Trust, the Company also gave a one week placement to a voluntary organization professional, providing an opportunity to work alongside journalists to learn what makes a good news story.

The Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday are running a post-graduate trainee reporter scheme again this year after the success of its inaugural course in 2008/9 in which the eleven trainees were considered worthy of employment and have been given contracts across different sections of both papers.

The scheme has proved hugely popular attracting more than 500 applications for seven places this year. Those selected were chosen from among the brightest and most ambitious of students from Britain's post-graduate journalism colleges. They received further training in news-gathering, writing and law in London before being sent on placements with regional newspapers and will return for placements in editorial departments of the Daily Mail and The Mail on Sunday in early 2010.

Demelza House Children’s Hospice

HPL remains committed to Demelza House Children’s Hospice having raised £50,000 as a result of an auction at their charity golf day in August 2009. Founded in 1994 the first Hospice in Kent was opened in 1998. HPL’s donations have contributed to a second Hospice opening in June 2009 in South East London. Despite the current economic situation donations remained steady, if not quite as high as in previous years, for this extremely worthwhile cause.

Southwark Park Festival, London and First Responder Team, Didcot

HPL remains supportive of a number of key local initiatives in the two areas in which there are print plants, such as its continued financial support of the Southwark Park Festival run by the Council. It also made a donation to a First Responder Team – a unit which responds immediately to an incident in the local area. All members of the Response team are volunteers who help their local community in medical emergencies and the HPL donation goes towards essential equipment for their work. In these testing economic times the division remains focused on helping support these endeavours and the good work they do.

Throughout the year HPL has also contributed to other charities, such as the Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Families Association (SSAFA), as well making supporting causes of particular importance to staff, a particular beneficiary being Breast Cancer Care, following the death of the wife of one of one employee.

Awards

Associated Newspapers titles have won many awards over the years and this last year has been no exception. The Mail on Sunday was named Sunday Newspaper of the Year at the London Press Club Awards and, at the British Press Awards in the spring, the paper lead the way with its sister title, the Daily Mail. The Mail on Sunday won four awards: Scoop of the Year went to the paper’s Miles Goslett for breaking the ‘Sachsgate’ affair, with his colleague Christopher Leake named Reporter of the Year. Young Journalist of the Year went to Tom Harper. YOU Magazine was voted Supplement of the Year.

In addition, freelancers Philip Jacobson and Dan McDougall both picked up awards – respectively Feature Writer of the Year and Foreign Reporter of the Year – in part for their work with the paper and its Live magazine.

The Daily Mail’s Quentin Letts was named Polical Journalist of the Year; Stephen Wright was Specialist Writer of the Year – and, together with Richard Pendlebury, won the Cudlipp Award for their coverage of ‘the New Scotland Yard race war’; Tanya Gold was highly commended in the Feature Writer category for her articles in both the Daily Mail and The Guardian.

The Daily Mail and The Mail on Sunday won the ACE International Press Award for best UK newspapers distributed internationally. This award is given for the strength of sales abroad, as well as for the depth and benefits enjoyed from the Company’s multiple European print centres and the work done with overseas wholesalers and distributors to stimulate sale. The Company also took the Gold award for Service to Retailers. This is a key award for the Company, given the huge interaction and involvement with all retailers from both an HND perspective and in satisfying their supply requirements. Two Silver awards were also picked up for Circulation Excellence and Most Effective Promotion. The Circulation Department was again recognised by ACE as the most successful circulation team in the UK.

Daily Mail Editorial Campaigns

In the last year the Daily Mail has run campaigns in the paper related to topical news events:

MPs Expenses

In April the Mail launched a campaign ‘Bring Them To Justice’ to bring those MPs who had cheated the public with outrageous expenses claims.

Readers contributed over £100,000 which was handed to the Tax Payers Alliance who are actively pursuing a series of private prosecutions if the authorities decide not to bring swindling MPs to justice.

Gary McKinnon

This campaign, which is still running, was launched to prevent Asperger’s victim Gary McKinnon from being extradited to America to face a jail sentence for hacking into the US defence computer system.

Wheelie Bin Monsters

The Mail’s support for home owners who do not have enough room to accommodate the large coloured wheelie bins local councils are forcing upon them got instant positive reactions from readers all over the country.

D-Day

The Daily Mail successfully campaigned for the many D-Day veterans to visit the beaches on the 65th anniversary of the Normandy landings. Readers sent in contributions within 24 hours to ensure the trips were funded - which for many will be the last opportunity to attend.

Battle of Britain

The Daily Mail continued its support for the Battle of Britain Historical Society and the memorial to The Few, on the Westminster Embankment in London, now carries a plaque thanking Mail readers for their help in making the monument a reality.

Diversity Fund

The Daily Mail continues its support for the Journalism Diversity Fund, now administered by the National Council for the Training of Journalists, which helps aspiring journalists from disadvantaged backgrounds complete their training.

Cartoons

The Daily Mail supports and is co-sponsor of the Cartoonists Trust’s annual award scheme which recognizes this seminal talent and seeks to encourage young people to take up the art.

Asian Trader Awards

The Mail continues its support for these awards which recognize excellence among the Asian community in Britain and sponsors the award for the Young Asian Journalist of the Year.

Banish the Bags

The Daily Mail's Banish the Bags campaign, launched last year, has resulted in the big supermarkets giving out five billion less plastic bags than the previous year - a stunning result for this campaign and now government is putting its weight behind the move. The positive result is fewer bags are going into landfill and fewer raw materials are being used to make them.

Proper Treatment of Wounded British Soldiers

The Daily Mail's campaign for the proper treatment of our wounded heroes from the Afghan and Iraq wars - a campaign which got the Government to double the compensation payments made to the most wounded paratrooper Ben Parkinson and for most of the other wounded service personnel, continued with the paper’s exposure of Government plans to reduce that compensation and to spy upon the wounded to make sure they were not lying about their disabilities. Mail readers have contributed £240,000 to a fighting fund to challenge Government moves in the Appeal Court to reduce compensation to those who have suffered further complications after treatment for their wounds.

Dignity for the Aged and Alzheimer’s Campaign

The Daily Mail continued to carry its long running campaign on Dignity for the Aged with a series of stories designed to point out the many cases of Britain’s old people being ill treated.

The paper has also been running stories about the elderly suffering from Alzheimer's in care homes where a "chemical cosh" is often administered. The Mail has pressed the Government to release the report it commissioned on what Alzheimer's treatment drugs are available and not available on the NHS. Urgent action is what we and the Alzheimer's Society want now.

Following the campaign, readers donated over £115,500 which was given directly to the Alzheimer’s Society to help sufferers of this cruel disease.

Overlord Campaign

In March 2009, The Daily Mail launched an editorial campaign to help surviving D-Day veterans meet the costs of attending the 65th anniversary commemorations in the UK and in Normandy, France. Thanks to the huge generosity of Mail readers over £197,500 was raised to help this most worthy of causes.

Daily Mail Schools Rugby

Now in its 20th year The Daily Mail Schools Rugby is the largest schools rugby tournament in the world, with an entry of more than 1,100 teams each year. The Finals will be held at Twickenham on 30th March 2010. England players who have taken part include Paul Sackey, Jonny Wilkinson, Matt Dawson, Richard Hill, Paul Sanderson, Trevor Woodman, Steve Borthwick, Ollie Barkley, Mike Tindall, Mathew Tait, Andrew Sheridan, Nick Easter and Peter Richards.

Daily Mail Foursomes

In its 50th year with an entry of 3,037 clubs, the Daily Mail Foursomes has more than 200,000 participants, making it the largest golf competition in the world. The 2009 Finals were held at Marriott Forest of Arden, near Coventry.

The Mail on Sunday National Golf Club Classic

Now in its 17th year, this is the largest team golf competition in the world with 2,776 teams entering, each with five competitors per round. This year's Quarter Finals were held at the Marriott Worsley Park in September and the Finals at the Hotel & Golf El Rompido in Huelva, southern Spain, in November.

h4. Irish Mail All-Ireland Fourball Trophy

Launched in 2009, the competition is open to all clubs in Northern and Southern Ireland and attracted an entry of 289 clubs in its first year. The Finals were held at Macreddin Village, County Wicklow in September 2009.

Financial Mail Women's Forum

The FMWF was formed in 2001 by Financial Mail editor, Lisa Buckingham, to help as many women as possible reach the very highest ranks in British business and to support them once they get there with the most relevant news and features coverage, advice and networking opportunities. The network for senior women in business, politics, the arts and public service is an offshoot of Financial Mail on Sunday and meets quarterly. It is one of the most highly regarded initiatives of its kind in the country and works closely with a series of other women's organizations.

The website, www.FMWF.com, has developed into one of the largest databases of women in business stories, profiles, business tools and personal finance advice.

Exploiting Financial Mail's mission to improve financial education, FMWF is publishing an information newsletter for the 12,000 women who leave prison each year to provide basic personal finance information as well as offering inspirational stories of achievement by former offenders coupled with a wide range of advice. The website will provide template letters for the women to download to help with job and bank account applications and FMWF hopes to establish a nationwide network to help them fill in the necessary paperwork to apply for benefits and schooling for their children. Financial problems are a factor for the vast majority of women in prison and offering a guide for those completing their sentences is a practical contribution towards reducing the causes of re-offending.

Both FMWF and YOU magazine support Dress for Success, the charity that provides professional clothing for disadvantaged women to help them find jobs.

FMWF is also planning a third inspirational 'Breaking the Mould' conference for 2010 to help broaden the career horizons of young women. The audience will include head teachers of girls' schools in both the private and maintained sectors as well as senior pupils.

The Mark Scott Leadership for Life Award

This is a unique and innovative approach to personal development which brings together young people from different social, religious and cultural backgrounds, and trains and supports them as they plan and deliver a community-based project. The Mail titles in Scotland have been longstanding and significant supporters of the Award. Selected participants aged between 16 and 18 attend a five day course in the Highlands. Here they acquire skills and confidence which help them work together for between four and seven months to complete a project in their local community. This innovative combination of outdoor activities and urban community-based project work helps young people to develop their talents while at the same time breaking down traditional barriers and benefiting local communities.

Media Training

The Scottish Daily Mail and The Scottish Mail on Sunday continue to help housing providers across Scotland on how to handle the media. Free training sessions have been organized in Glasgow allowing these organizations to become more proficient in their dealings with the print and broadcast media. These sessions are always over subscribed and more have had to be added to cope with demand.

Donations to Older People and Community Groups

Remaindered products from reader promotions have been donated for the benefit of older people in sheltered housing developments across Scotland where they are put to good use in ‘community lounges’. These include DVDs and books. Other products are donated to community events such as gala days and fetes, particularly in inner city areas of Scotland.

Theatre on Arran

The Associated titles made a small donation to help with the marketing of a new community theatre built on the Firth of Clyde island of Arran – the first time the islanders have had their own purpose built arena. Touring shows now have a state of the art theatre bringing musicals, plays and other productions to the island.

Breakthrough Breast Cancer, Mothers4Children

This year, YOU has continued its close relationship with a number of charities. Apart from Dress for Success, the magazine worked with Breakthrough Breast Cancer, and highlighted a number of other breast cancer charities during Breast Cancer Awareness Month. In March there was a cover story to launch the new charity Mothers4Children – helping vulnerable children all over the world - set up by a number of high profile mothers including Lisa B, Tess Daly and Jasmine Guinness.

Storybook Mums, Comic Relief, Thames Reach, Missing People

YOU also highlighted the work of Storybook Mums, an organisation set up by volunteers which records female prison inmates reading stories and recording personal messages for their children, to reinforce the mother/child link while they are in prison. Through Comic Relief YOU described the lives of three brave child carers, who look after their sick or incapacitated parents. Several days were spent with the charity Thames Reach talking to women who, through various circumstances, had found themselves living on the streets, to highlight their stories and find out why the number of homeless women is rising so exponentially. And in June, through the organisation Missing People, YOU told the story of Andrew Gosden, a 14 year-old schoolboy who disappeared from home two years ago. In June, the magazine wrote about YOU reader Jill Fordham who read an article on skin cancer in YOU eleven years ago. What she learnt in the piece prompted her to visit a doctor immediately when she developed a suspect mole, and she was successfully treated for cancer. In September we highlighted the terrible experience of mothers whose children have died as a result of knife crime.

WellChild

Last year, YOU established a media partnership with WellChild, a charity which celebrates the bravery of severely ill children and their carers. In October the magazine published the stories of five of the courageous winners, who were presented with their awards by Prince Harry at a glittering ceremony. In March four more of last year’s winners were profiled and invited applications for the WellChild Awards this autumn, which will once again be presented by Prince Harry.

Clarins Award

YOU is proud to continue its eight-year association with Clarins. In January it told of the work of Louise Massamba who has tirelessly fought to help refugee women and children who have fled a life of violence in their own countries through the charity she set up, the Merseyside Refugee & Asylum Seekers Pre and Post Natal Support Group (MRANG), and in June, the winner of this year’s £30,000 award was announced – Julie Perry, a trained nurse and social worker, who, through her charity Indi Project, has built a school and is currently building a nursery for a desperately poor community in Africa.

In June, Rt Hon Alistair Darling MP and his wife Maggie hosted a cocktail party at 11 Downing Street to honour the work of Virginia Prifti, a previous Clarins Award winner, who set up the charity Lawrence’s Well and Roundabout Appeal in memory of her late son, Lawrence. A number of other Clarins Award winners and runners-up were invited to this occasion.

Cosmetic Executive Women

In June, Sue Peart gave a talk and led a mentoring event for CEW (Cosmetic Executive Women), an organisation for women in the cosmetics industry, to encourage young women entering the industry to fulfil their career ambitions.

Shelter

Metro staff nominated Shelter as their Charity of the Year for the last year and, having set themselves a target to £10,00, they raised £13,000 through staff fundraising efforts from sales of books, homemade cakes and beauty products, as well as and a sports day in Holland Park for staff and friends.

London Better Together

Metro staff also took part in the London Better Together day in May, providing a team of volunteers to paint a school classroom at Angel in North London.

In addition, all Metro employees are eligible to support their local charity for one working day a year.

Business in the Community (BiTC)

Jobsite, which is part of Associated Northcliffe Digital, is actively involved in community affairs in Hampshire, where the company is based. The division is a member of Business In The Community, which focuses on helping to raise skills and aspirational levels in disadvantaged communities, Havant being recognised as one of them.

Activities over the last year include:

National Business in the Community ‘Cares Action Day’

A Jobsite team removed old and dangerous fencing around of the playing fields in Leigh Park, one of the most deprived areas in the country.

Havant Lip-Reading Service

Classes at Jobsite’s offices have doubled in size and more than 30 people now benefit from the Havant Lip-Reading Service. At a cost of some £1,700 to Jobsite, a member of staff is also undertaking training to become a voluntary Lip Reading Tutor.

Gosport – Managing Hearing Loss Service

Jobsite has started working recently with the Audiology Department at Queen Alexandra Hospital, Portsmouth, to support an outreach Hearing Loss Management service. Although a new initiative, already the response from the public has been overwhelmingly positive.

Pride of Place

This is a police initiative in the centre of Leigh Park in Havant. “Pride of Place” is a drop-in centre for anyone wishing to improve themselves, providing learning and training to help with letter writing, CV writing and job applications. The centre also arranges activities to keep young people occupied in spare time and holidays. Jobsite staff volunteered and helped with CV writing and applying for jobs.

h4. Portsmouth & Southsea Lifeguards

Since Jobsite donated money for a new lifeboat last year, the Company has helped the Association raise further funds for a beach hut for the station.

Chichester Under 8s Rugby Team

Jobsite continues to sponsor the under 8’s team and several members of staff have represented Jobsite at various important matches. They pay for the strips and costs of training and match sponsorship.

Barncroft Infants and Junior Schools, Leigh Park

Jobsite continues its support of these schools, mainly through governance.

Weston Green FC

Jobsite sponsors the strip for the Weston Green Boys Team in the Surrey League.

Havant Cricket Club

Jobsite is committed as Havant Cricket Club’s major Community Support Partner with basic funding of £20,000 per annum for 5 years (since July 2006). A further £2,000 is given annually towards kit. Further annual funding of £1,500 is provided for the "Jobsite Summer Cricket Camps for a hundred 8-14 year olds.

Portsmouth Premier League Football Club

Jobsite has signed a three year contract with the club to sponsor their kit, with the Jobsite logo appearing on all first-team shirts, training wear and replica kit. As part of the agreement, the Fratton End will now be known as the Jobsite Stand.

Northcliffe Media

South West Weeklies Region

All Cornwall titles were heavily involved in the ‘Bites Back’ campaign, launched by Northcliffe’s Wales and West division in conjunction with the South West Regional Development Agency. A response to the effects on the regional and local economy as a result of the recession, the titles committed to weekly features over a period of three months which highlighted help and assistance available to businesses and individuals. It also focused on those who were bucking the trend in the face of the downturn and promoted a ‘Confident Cornwall’ message to the readership to boost consumer confidence.

North East Region

Bounce Back Campaign in Hull and Grimsby – set up a committee of local business leaders from the public and private sectors for a six month editorial campaign to help the region through the recession.

International

Hungary

Northcliffe Hungary launched a recipe and tale-writing competition based on family traditions. Their readers sent them more a thousand recipes, making it possible to publish an exclusive recipe book. All the recipes were illustrated with a photo of the reader who sent them the recipe. Foods were tested by local cooks and photos of the dishes were taken. The tales collected were published and sent to local schools.

Slovakia

In Slovakia articles are written about the life of Roma community to analyse the possible solution for their problems.

South West Dailies Region

In Torquay a Go4It campaign was run where clubs, organisations, gyms, businesses offered their facilities for the youth of the Bay after we surveyed every child in all of the Bay’s secondary schools and passed on the data to Torbay Council, which then used it in a successful bid for a multi-million new youth complex in Paignton.

In Exeter the ‘We Care’ campaign was launched in March 2008 to help the unsung army of carers in the circulation area. There are two strands to the campaign: to fight for a better deal for carers and the cared for and to provide a fund to pay for trips, treats and days out.

Midlands Region

The region engages extensively with local communities through its paid-for and free newspapers, magazines, special publications and online activity. Their portfolio strives to be the place where people meet. Through their letters and comment pages, online forums, story comments and niche sites, they interact continuously with their audience and provide the portals for information and involvement.

Their titles continue to campaign on issues facing local communities. In the past year these have included:

Derby Bites Back - bringing together communities and businesses during the economic downturn
Food for Thought - promoting healthy eating
Protecting our children
Use your Head – promoting wearing cycle helmets

Community engagement has been enhanced through the extension of the rural free Messenger titles and the editionising of their urban free newspapers. There are now more than 200 hyper-local portals on the thisis websites. They have engaged with the business community across the Midlands through their dedicated business websites. The portfolio works in partnership with local councils and environment agencies and plays an active role in the regeneration programmes of its cities.

West & Wales Region

Bristol

In the past six months, the Evening Post has made a huge effort to engage with the community. They have urged their reporters to get out of the office and to meet people and it has been a huge success. Instead of filling the paper with ‘official’ news, they now carry many more stories in which readers are involved. This approach has given them stories which are ‘relevant, compelling and interesting’ and it has freshened up the paper considerably.

They have also taken on a big project to support amateur theatre groups. There are around 250 such groups in the region, involving performers, producers, musicians and, audience. They have supported the groups with previews, picture stories and many more reviews than ever before.

The regions website has been one of the most successful in Northcliffe, with record-breaking numbers of hits. They have tried to be innovative, bringing in new ideas and also engaging readers in discussions. On some days they have several hundred reader responses to stories.

The region also run a Young Farmer of the Year competition which is awarded annually at the Royal Bath & West Show. Trophies and cash prizes are awarded to the winning Young Farmers Club and to an individual member.

Bath

Reporters are out on their patches every week, meeting contacts, and attending events such as PACT meetings.

The editor (and occasionally deputy editor) regularly meets and addresses gatherings of groups from Womens Institutes through business organisations and Christian breakfasts to council staff

They operate a work experience system which means that virtually every week there is someone from a city school or university shadowing their staff, while editor, deputy editor, and education reporter also take part in schools careers fairs or day workshops

Gloucestershire

The annual Pride of Gloucestershire Awards (PoG) are now the premier event in the county calendar for recognising outstanding achievement by members of the community. Culminating in a glittering awards dinner, the PoG awards are run by Gloucestershire Media and well supported by local businesses and public sector sponsors. The Forester also runs its own Pride of the Forest Awards.

The titles run the annual Business Awards – now in their 12th year – celebrating the very best of Gloucestershire firms. Every year dozens of businesses are nominated for the awards and more than 500 people attend the gala black tie awards dinner. The Forester is also launching its own Forest Business Awards and Stroud Life ran its inaugural Business Awards this year.

The Forester produced a 24-page supplement in November to help boost business in the Forest of Dean following six months of roadworks which effectively cut the area off from major centres badly hitting trade and tourism. The product was launched the day before the A40 roadworks ended. A microsite was also designed on TiG to complement it. The whole project has generated just under £20k in sponsorship and £4,500 in advertising.

This year will see the inaugural Gloucestershire Media Sports Awards which aim to recognise outstanding sporting achievement within the county.

Bites Back campaign: With financial support from the public sector the newspapers and website launched the “Gloucestershire Bites Back” campaign in response to the recession. The campaign aims to support local businesses with publicity and to provide advice and support for people looking for work.

The Citizen, Gloucestershire Echo, Stroud Life and Thisisgloucestershire have embraced hyper local reporting with new patch pages in the newspapers and a dedicated online section (Where I Live) for community news. The head of news, Jenny Eastwood also runs community press officer workshops where community leaders are given guidance on how to write press releases, blog online and how to build solid contacts with the reporter covering their area. All members of the editorial management team also regularly give talks to schools and community organisations about life in newspapers.

Gloucestershire Media has representatives who sit on the Local Criminal Justice Board providing a media perspective for the police, probation, courts and youth offending teams. They also sit on the Local Resilience Forum (LRF) which meets monthly for contingency planning in case of emergency events like natural disasters (flooding etc).

The Forester teamed up with the Forest of Dean District Council, the regimental association and the Royal British Legion to put on a superb community event in Coleford honouring the Rifles. This was a huge success with hundreds turning out and it complemented what took place later in the day in Gloucester. The Forester linked up with the RBL and laid on lunch the veteran soldiers.

The Forester also ran two shoebox appeals for troops in Afghanistan. The first was held during the run-up to Christmas to give gifts to soldiers in the 1 Rifles regiment based in the district. The other appeal finished in August and was run in conjunction a marine who returned from a tour of duty in the spring and wanted his army colleagues still out there to benefit.

The Forest Youth Awards were launched in May to recognise exceptional young people – who often get a bad press. The Forester has teamed up with the Gloucestershire Youth Service, Children and Young People’s Officer FODDC, the local police chief inspector and last year’s winners. Awards are presented in October.

Swansea

The Llanelli Star's Jobseeker of the Week initiative has had unemployed readers queuing up to be featured.

DMG Radio Australia

VICTORIAN BUSHFIRE APPEAL

Following the devastation of the Victorian Bushfires in early 2009, the network embarked on a number of initiatives to support and raise money for victims of the bushfire.

The Nova network conducted an all day national broadcast from the Alfred Burns Unit to raise vital funds for the unit, which included a large donation from DMG Radio Australia.

Vega 91.5fm in Melbourne raised funds for the Country Fire Association by producing and selling limited edition framed photographs of a CFA firefighter rescuing a koala from the fire.

Following the bushfire tragedy, the music industry came together to stage the Sound Relief Festival – where Coldplay and Kings of Leon joined Australia’s leading music talent across stages in Sydney and Melbourne. The DMG Network devoted heavy volumes of airtime to promote the festival and ticket sales, along with a national all day live broadcast from the event. Sound Relief raised more than AU$million towards the Red Cross Bushfire Appeal relief efforts.

STARLIGHT FOUNDATION

In 2009, the Nova network was the media partner for the Starlight Foundation’s Star Day, encouraging listeners to purchase Star Day merchandise and raising awareness of the foundation’s work. The Starlight Foundation helps brighten the lives of seriously sick kids all over Australia by granting wishes and making their dreams come true.

NOVA ALL EARS – BULLYING

Nova All Ears is a series of one hour programs broadcast nationally on the Nova network which highlight key social issues relevant to the Nova audience. The programs feature advice from experts and those with first- hand experience in the relevant cause. The idea of the programs is also that they provide access and an outlet for listeners to share their experiences, offer practical ideas and positive advice for other listeners. Programs enlist the support of many qualified experts behind the scenes, in either the relevant area of interest of the program or general counselling services for listeners.

Following a number of reports on the increasing incidence of bullying and its various forms, Nova aired a national one hour special focussing on the topic of bullying. Special celebrity guests and listeners called in with their stories and advice, along with profiling the resources that are available to help those who are victims of bullying.

ST VINCENT DE PAUL SOCIETY – CEO SLEEPOUT

DMG Radio CEO Cathy O’Connor participated in the 2009 CEO Sleepout, where business leaders spend a winter’s night sleeping on the streets of Sydney. The event raises awareness of the plight of the homeless and raises funds for the continuing work of the St Vincent De Paul society.

GIRLS BIKE CONVOY 2009 – RED CROSS

Nova 969 Merrick and Rosso and Kate staged the 2nd Annual Girls Bike Convoy which this year supported the Red Cross Victorian Bushfire Appeal. The Convoy saw hundreds of men (listeners and celebrities) ride a special route on girls bikes to raise money for the cause. The Sydney breakfast show conducted a live broadcast from the convoy.

VEGA 95.3 CHRISTMAS APPEAL

In December 2008, Vega 95.3fm staged the inaugural Christmas Appeal for the Westmead Children’s Hospital raising much needed funds for vital lifesaving equipment at the hospital. The appeal is an all day broadcast event placing a spotlight on the work of the Children’s Hospital.

DMG Mentoring Program

Commencing in Sydney in November 2007 with a pilot group of 12 Mentee’s and Mentor’s, the mentoring program is focused on matching willing experts with less experienced employees in an environment that actively encourages, energises, and gives career development and direction.

With the successful 12 month pilot undertaken, the Mentoring program has been rolled out into Adelaide (a further 10 pairs) in November 2008 with the addition of cross geographical matches whereby someone from Perth’s radio business is matched with a Mentor sitting in Adelaide, some 1000’s km’s away. With ongoing touch positive touch points ensuring the programs are meeting the needs of both Mentee and Mentor, Melbourne and Brisbane are being launched in August 09 this year.