The Aviva Women’s Network and The British Asian Trust are working hand in hand to support disadvantaged women in India at every stage of their lives through high-impact education, employment and empowerment initiatives.
Here Marie Sigsworth, Group Corporate Responsibility Director at Aviva -the UK life, home and car insurance provider - describes the partnership between Aviva Women’s Network and the Trust.
1. The British Asian Trust: Tell us about the Aviva Women’s Network’s focus on social responsibility.
Marie: At Aviva, the purpose of our Women’s Network revolves around three areas: Networking opportunities for our members; professional development; and social responsibility. In terms of social responsibility, we want to provide our members with opportunities to support causes related to women’s issues and, where possible, to get directly involved through volunteering.
2. Trust: Why did Aviva Women’s Network choose to partner with us?
Marie: We were really keen to identify a partnership that not only supports women but also has a direct link to our Street to School initiative (The S2S programme), Aviva’s five -year global community investment programme that recognizes that every child living and working on the street has the right to fulfill their potential. We aim to recognise the unrecognised and get children off the streets and into education or training. But, because the needs and interest of our Women’s Network are broader, we knew we didn’t want to limit the scope of our potential partnership to those that are only involved in youth-related programmes. The Trust was able to provide projects that focus on the things that matter most to us at Aviva, programmes that focus on financial literacy, education and the empowerment of women, at all stages of their life.
3. Trust: How will the partnership be mutually beneficial and make a greater social impact?
Marie: The Trust has remarkable energy and enthusiasm for their work – which is truly inspiring. By working together, the team at The British Asian Trust has gained a real understanding of Aviva’s priorities to support disadvantaged children and empower women and based on this have identified amazing programmes for us to support.
4. Trust: How do Aviva Women’s Network’s objectives link with the work of The British Asian Trust?
Marie: I had the great pleasure of meeting the truly inspirational, Chetna Sinha, founder of the Trust’s Mann Deshi programme. Through our conversations it struck me that, while the context is quite different, in a lot of ways, the challenges that women face, whether in South Asia or Britain, are similar. Poverty and education are obviously differences. But, many things are the same: all women want to better themselves; they want to support their children and families; and they want to contribute to their communities. Just as the women’s network is focused on networking, professional development, and social responsibility, the programmes of The British Asian Trust are working toward the same goals. At Aviva, we pride ourselves on being able to support the communities in which we operate. Our partnership with the Trust allows us to do just that, throughout India.
5. Trust: What issues do Aviva Women’s Network members feel they have in common with women around the world?
Marie: In addition to the points I already mentioned, at Aviva we recognize the human need for significance, which is why we are focused on building a culture of recognition. This need extends beyond geographical and economic boundaries, which is why we see it, albeit in very different contexts, as a common need of women across the world
6. Trust: How did you choose to support the work Educate Girls, Aangan Trust and Mann Deshi School?
Marie: What’s amazing about these three programmes is how they exist to support women at different stages of their lives. At Aviva, we do a lot of work that looks at the “employee life cycle” – finding ways to support our employees at all stages of their career. And that’s why we really saw the value in supporting these specific programmes of the Trust – because they look at the broader life challenges that women are facing, rather than simply a point in time. We at Aviva are proud to play our part in supporting these worthy charities and making a difference in the lives of these inspirational women.
7. Trust: Would you recommend others to support our work? 
Marie: Absolutely, we would recommend the Trust to others. They are incredibly devoted to the causes they support – the passion is there. And they bring that devotion and passion to our corporate partnership. It has been extremely rewarding to see the profound impact these programmes are having on the lives of women and we would strongly encourage other companies to support the Trust and truly feel that they are making a significant difference.
Wherever it has a presence, Tesco, one of the world’s largest retailers , wants to make an impact on the community.
To build on their existing community work in India, The Tesco Charity Trust has chosen to support The British Asian Trust.
“The British Asian Trust helps us to identify those causes that have a real impact, that are sustainable and that make a real difference,” says Josh Hardie, Tesco’s Head of Corporate Responsibility. “ When you operate on a global scale, it can be hard to identify the best charitable causes to support on the ground. We benefit from the Trust’s knowledge of local organisations – the ones that would never come on our radar,” he said.
Tesco Charity Trust’s support is now ensuring that 250 young urban slum-dwellers in Gujarat, India forced to leave school early to help their families, are learning new skills and earning better wages. These disadvantaged young people are now landing jobs in information technology, sales, hotel management, office administration and other fields.
“Employability can make a tremendous difference and it has the potential to have a wider impact than just the immediate family. There’s a ripple effect,” says Josh Hardie. “The British Asian Trust is an organisation that knows what it is doing and can spot and support causes like this which are clearly making a difference. This gives us confidence that our funding will have the biggest impact.”
Impressed by the Trust’s ‘great clarity of purpose,’ Josh Hardie says: “It is fantastic for us to find a partner like the Trust which can make our work on the ground even better.”
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