Bentley’s Advancing Life Chances Strategy: Over 150 Grants Donated to UK Charities and Plans for Further Community Investments

Bentley’s Advancing Life Chances Strategy: Over 150 Grants Donated to UK Charities and Plans for Further Community Investments

(IN BRIEF) Bentley, as part of its new Advancing Life Chances (ALC) strategy, has launched a community investment programme to support charities and good causes across the UK. Through the Small Grants Programme, Bentley has already donated over 150 grants to various charities and aims to donate over 250 by the end of the year. The company plans to expand its regional community investment portfolio with two bespoke programmes, the Bentley Crisis Fund and the Bentley Advancing Life Chances Crewe Fund, and introduce new Payroll Giving & Match Funding programmes for its colleagues. This initiative is part of Bentley’s commitment to making a positive impact on the community and supporting sustainability efforts.

(PRESS RELEASE) CREWE, 25-Jul-2023 — /EuropaWire/ —Bentley has introduced a new community investment programme as part of the company’s Beyond100 strategy called Advancing Life Chances (ALC). This new strategy, developed in partnership with the Charities Aid Foundation (CAF), allows the company to expand its community investment footprint to a national level. As part of this, Bentley launched the Small Grants Programme in November 2022 and, to date, has donated over 150 small grants nationally and seeks to donate over 250 by the end of the year. In addition, two further new schemes dedicated to Bentley’s home in Crewe have been announced.

Bentley has a long history of supporting its local community and will be expanding its regional community investment portfolio further in 2023 with the launch of two bespoke programmes, the Bentley Crisis Fund and the Bentley Advancing Life Chances Crewe Fund – whilst continuing to work with CCF (Cheshire Community Foundation) to play a key part in the CCF Crewe Fund. These are being launched along with new Payroll Giving & Match Funding programmes for Bentley colleagues.

Sally Hepton, Director of Government Relations and Sustainable Luxury at Bentley Motors, comments:

“Bentley has a clear social mission – to Advance Life Chances. The company has been supporting this locally for a long time, notably through the longstanding Bentley funds with our partners at Cheshire Community Foundation and extensive focus on supporting young people through school outreach. However, to be Bentley is to be best-in-class, and this means we can always grow and improve. This is why we have created and launched the new Advancing Life Chances strategy to reach more people in Crewe and beyond.

“This new strategy and national fund are the first crucial steps on a journey towards this ambition, and I am very excited to see how many people we can support as we aim to become leaders in sustainable luxury mobility.”

This builds on a hugely successful year in 2022 where Bentley invested over £310,000 towards good causes. All whilst introducing the volunteering leave initiative for over 1,500 colleagues, allowing them to access two paid days leave for volunteering opportunities.

The new Advancing Life Chances Strategy was designed around a bespoke social audit conducted by Bentley and CAF. This audit was commissioned to understand the key issues that require community investment across the UK, allowing Bentley to design the strategy to be much more targeted and improve the investment potential to help as many people as possible.

Notes to editors

Bentley Motors is the most sought-after luxury car brand in the world. The company’s headquarters in Crewe is home to all of its operations including design, R&D, engineering, Mulliner and production of the company’s five model lines, Continental GT, Continental GT Convertible, Flying Spur, Bentayga and Bentayga EWB. The combination of fine craftsmanship, using skills that have been handed down through generations, alongside engineering expertise and cutting-edge technology is unique to UK luxury car brands such as Bentley. It is also an example of high-value British manufacturing at its best. Bentley employs around 4,000 people at Crewe.

Media Contact:

STEFANIE LACKNER
Head of Sustainability Communications
stefanie.lackner@bentley.co.uk
+44 (0) 7443 146394

WAYNE BRUCE
Chief Communications and D&I Officer
wayne.bruce@bentley.co.uk

SOURCE: Bentley