Bengaluru : Tesco Bengaluru, the technology and retail operations team for Tesco worldwide, kick-started its CSR month on the first of October. The month long initiative is aimed at encouraging colleagues to engage with the communities, as well as each other, through participation in a range of community activities from blood donation drives and volunteering at partner NGOs, to charity carnivals.
Tesco Bengaluru’s CSR Month with the theme ‘Volunteering is Fun, Fulfilling and for Everyone’, was initiated in 2015 when colleagues expressed the desire to devote more time to community activities, setting the tone for the largest colleague volunteering programme. Tesco Bengaluru’s dedication to its corporate social responsibility programme has actively contributed to raising awareness and positively impacting the communities. Fun activities and engaging events have resulted in active participation from colleagues while scaling impact on the communities it serves.
“Every little help makes a big difference – it’s the value we live by to ensure we serve our customers, colleagues and their communities a little better every day. Through CSR Month our goal is to empower our colleagues to make a positive impact in any way they can. When we add up all the small things we do, we are able to make a big difference to our wider society. Like our CSR volunteering at Tesco Bengaluru, this event is unique because it is colleague-led. Our success is measured by how we make volunteering engaging, inclusive and fulfilling leading to better opportunities for young people, improved preventative healthcare interventions and making the environment better for the future” said Aniisu K Verghese, the Senior Manager for Corporate Communications and CSR, Tesco Bengaluru.
‘Run for Community’, held on October 3, inspired colleagues to run for a cause with sprints for men and women, a relay race and a fun ‘dance-a-jog’ around campus. Colleagues volunteered at the Association for People with Disability (APD), supporting differently-abled children of Shradhanjali Integrated School in taking their exams, by scribing answers for them. Colleagues also got together on campus, stacked up old newspapers with a mission to reduce plastic and crafted 2880 paper bags in just 4 hours. Other key activities scheduled for the month include workshops at Tesco Bengaluru’s adopted government schools, supporting an Akshaya Patra kitchen, engaging at BOSCO, a Swachh Bharat Cleanliness Awareness Campaign, and a charity carnival.
About Tesco Bengaluru :
Tesco Bengaluru is the only technology and retail operations centre that caters to Tesco’s growth and presence globally by serving millions of customers worldwide. We build world class technology products and platforms, genuine adipex design stores and manage Finance and Retail Operations. Tesco Bengaluru was set up in May 2004 to enable standardisation and build centralised capabilities and competencies which can be leveraged across the Tesco Group. The range of work we do from here covers the entire spectrum of retail – Technology, Business, Finance, Commercial & Supply Chain and Property Services. We are here to make the Tesco experience better for our millions of customers worldwide and simpler for over 500,000 colleagues.
ANNEXURE :
About ‘Run for Community’ : CSR Month was kick-started with ‘Run for Community’ on October 3, 2016. Aiming to galvanise colleagues to run for a cause, the competitive races included 100 metre sprints for men and women, full laps and a relay race, held at Tesco Bengaluru’s main campus. The two-hour long event also had a fun ‘dance-a-jog’ around campus. Colleagues divided by different business teams participated and made charitable donations to GiveIndia, a donation platform that allows one to support a cause of their choice from about 200 NGOs that have been scrutinised for transparency & credibility.
About scribing for physically challenged students : Tesco Bengaluru colleagues volunteered at the Shradhanjali Integrated School (SIS), Association of People with Disability (APD), in Lingarajapuram. Volunteers helped children with disabilities to answer their exam. They assisted the children in reading and writing, for example, matching the numbers, matching the alphabets and fill up the blanks. The principal and teachers at the school guided the colleagues in doing so. Scribing enables physically challenged students to demonstrate their knowledge and understanding of subject matters and places them on par with their peers.
Paper-bag making for a plastic-free Bengaluru : Hands flew, paper ripped, creativity peaked! Making good use of old newspapers, Tesco Bengaluru colleagues crafted 2,880 paper bags in 4 hours. The bags will be distributed to small vendors, hawkers, and street stall owners in Tesco Bengaluru’s upcoming cleanliness campaign as the message of reusing waste and shunning plastic is cultivated.
Blood Donation Drive : Colleagues donated 295 units of blood at the Tesco Bengaluru campus in association with Rotary Bangalore TTK Blood Bank and the Bangalore Medical Services Trust. This is in line with Tesco Bengaluru’s endeavour in preventive health measures.
Collection Drives : Colleagues have ardently been involved in collection drives for clothes and books which will be handed over the children from BOSCO, a non-governmental organisation that helps street and working children in India. Tesco Bengaluru colleagues also spent quality time engaging and informally coaching the children in extra-curricular learning.
