For our communities

Supporting charities to tackle the climate emergency

Our people are passionate about supporting environmental charities. We have harnessed their enthusiasm by supporting City of Trees, a Greater Manchester based charity. City of Trees are delivering a green recovery and tackling the climate crisis by planting trees and restoring woodlands for the people and wildlife of Greater Manchester.

We feel we are part of a movement that is working across multiple communities, organisations and businesses with the goal of planting a tree for every citizen in Greater Manchester over the next five years.

Our colleagues regularly use their volunteering leave to take part in tree planting days hosted by City of Trees.

*equivalent to funds raised since 2021

Supporting families and children in need

DF Capital has been supporting Wood Street Mission since 2021, and during that time we have raised over £7,000 to help disadvantaged families across Manchester and Salford. As well as fundraising, we have provided Wood Street Mission with contactless card readers to make collecting donations easier, take delivery of hygiene products from PZ Cussons which we then deliver to Wood Street Mission every month, and have raised a collection of brand new books which are given to children for them to call their own.

With the help of our employees and customers, we support Wood Street Mission’s Christmas Appeal every year, using an electric van to collect new toys, gifts and books, helping make Christmas special for thousands of underprivileged children.

We support throughout the year, partaking in their annual dragon boat race for the smart start programme, deliver hygiene products from PZ Cussons and provide a card reader to boost fundraising.

Supporting social mobility with Code Your Future

CodeYourFuture is a UK based non-profit organisation that trains some of the most deprived members of society to become web developers and helps them to find work in the technology industry.

We are very proud to support CodeYourFuture on an ongoing basis, providing them with office space every weekend and access to experts within the DF Capital team.

Supporting digital inclusion in our communities

Sadly, there are members of our local community who struggle to have low-cost access to computers and technology, holding them back from making progress in their efforts to find work or improve their IT literacy and attractiveness to employees.

During the year, we donated laptops and power banks to Community Computers, who recycle donated IT equipment and make them available to underprivileged groups and the long-term unemployed. This redundant equipment has changed the fortunes of many but also reduced the amount of technology e-waste we generate.

The Milk Bank @ Chester

The Milk Bank @ Chester is the largest NHS milk bank in England and has provided donor milk to over 70 hospital neonatal units. It can supply donor breastmilk anywhere in England and Wales and aims to make safe, screened donor milk available to any baby that needs it regardless of the location of their birth.

The Milk Bank is supported by multiple Blood Bike charities, who provide an amazing service collecting and distributing donor milk across the North West and beyond, all on a voluntary basis.

DF Capital has partnered with The Milk Bank to donate 10 specialist transport boxes, to safely transport much-needed donor milk to neonatal units across the country and reduce biker miles as each bike will have a box. Colleagues have also used their volunteering hours to visit the site and support the team in assembling milk donor kits.

The Trussell Trust

The Trussell Trust is a national charity supporting a network over 1,200 foodbank centres across the UK. Providing emergency food and support to people locked in poverty, while also campaigning for change to end the need for food banks in the future.

In 2023 we formed a new community partnership with the Trussell Trust, supporting food banks in our local area by spending over 75 hours volunteering (separate to The Mega Giveback), donated 1000s of food items, took part in their reverse-advent calendar campaign and fundraised over £500 to support the fight against hunger in the UK.

The Manchester College

o The Manchester College is the largest further education college in the UK, and we have partnered with them to sponsor the T-Level Finance course. T-Levels bring together employers and education providers to create programmes that meet the needs of industries and prepare students for entry into skilled employment, further training, or degree level study.

In our first year we delivered over 90 hours of delivery including an inspiring CEO talk, workplace safari in our Manchester office to bring to life what a bank really does, Q&A sit down with the finance function, hidden jobs session, masterclasses in specialist subjects across our Commercial, Finance, Risk, Change and Continuous Improvement functions, as well as supporting other T-Level courses with a CV workshop day and provided five work place placements totalling 1,237.5 paid placement hours. We are looking forward to continuing our sponsorship of the qualification.

Girls Out Loud

Girls Out Loud is a social enterprise that empowers girls to channel their potential and make better life choices. By raising their aspirations and awareness of the variety of career opportunities available, girls are encouraged to believe in themselves and make the right choices.

Our colleagues participate in Role Model Relay events, and we sponsor some colleagues to act as mentors to local girls as part of the Girls Out Loud Big Sister programme.