Giving something back

As we approach the end of another year, many of us will be thinking about what we have achieved in 2014, and what we might aspire to in 2015. At Employers For Childcare Charitable Group, everything we do is based upon our mission to make it easier for parents to get in to work and to stay there. Being a social enterprise means we invest 100 per cent of the profits made through our business activities into charitable work, for the benefit of families across Northern Ireland.

Social enterprise is a relatively new concept here, and we are delighted to have seen it growing in strength over recent years. For me, it straddles the best of the worlds of business and charity, esteeming the pursuit of profit and development of our communities equally.

Devising support for parents to secure and sustain employment opportunities is what drives us, and the money we make through our trading companies is what fuels us for the journey. Better still, our financial independence is what enables and empowers us to lobby politicians, civil servants and businesses to protect and promote the interests of working parents, without the common fear of biting the hand that feeds us; we’ve worked hard to ensure we can feed ourselves.

As I reflect on what we have achieved through our business and charitable activities, I am proud to note that since 2008, we have invested £3 million into providing free information, advice and guidance to parents across Northern Ireland. That’s £3 million that has helped to increase families’ incomes and improve children’s outcomes. And it’s the desire to increase that social impact that will continue to drive us throughout 2015.