In the United Kingdom, Chevron seeks to build partnerships that support the economic and social fabric of the communities where we work. We sponsor projects that support education, basic human needs and enterprise development. Energy for Learning™ is a Chevron global initiative that encapsulates this support and is already up and running in five organizations—Community Links, Richard House Hospice, Mudchute Farm, Youth Action Northern Ireland and Action for Children.
Addressing Basic Human Needs
Community Links in east London helps thousands of children, teenagers, adults and older people in poor neighborhoods every year. It runs a network of more than 60 community projects that empower individuals and communities to help them build their own ladder out of poverty.
Chevron employees and customers have helped raise more than £1 million for Action for Children. The charity works with 140,000 of the United Kingdom's most vulnerable children, young people and their families.
In 2009 and 2010, Chevron partnered with Aberdeen Foyer, a charity that works to alleviate and prevent youth homelessness and unemployment, to launch Clothes Line—an initiative in which Chevron employees donate clothes for low-income people returning to work.
Instant Neighbour is another local charity that takes a hands-on approach to tackling poverty. At Christmas, Chevron employees donate new gifts for children in need through a project called the Giving Tree.
Supporting Education
Chevron has developed strategic partnerships with the University of Aberdeen and Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh as part of our University Partnership Program. The program forms relationships with universities around the world to provide scholarships, grants and departmental gifts to help build tomorrow's energy workforce.
Chevron works with programs that teach young people the skills needed for careers in the energy industry. We sponsor TechFest-SetPoint's Maths Masterclasses. These Saturday morning sessions presented by industry professionals and academics teach youngsters about mathematics. We also fund the organization's science, technology, engineering and mathematics programs, which provide context for the subjects students learn at school.
Chevron sponsors the Scottish Council for Development and Industry's Young Engineers Club, which is active in more than 180 Scottish schools and involves almost 3,500 pupils. Its aim is to inspire future engineers to use creativity to solve problems.
Chevron works with Livewire, an organization that runs projects in schools that support curricular needs through interactive workshop sessions. Together, we have developed the Safety in Schools program Safe and Sound. The program helps children in primary schools learn to take personal responsibility for safety.
Chevron also supports the arts in Scotland. Our long-standing relationship with the Royal Scottish Academy for Music and Drama funds the annual Chevron Excellence Award, which gives a scholarship to an outstanding second-year opera student.
Protecting the Environment
In Scotland, Chevron runs Focus Environment, an environmental photography competition for secondary school pupils. The competition encourages 11- to 18-year-olds to demonstrate their awareness of nature through photography. Focus Environment is a partnership between Chevron, the Scottish Wildlife Trust (SWT) and the British Trust for Conservation Volunteers Scotland. It brings together business and conservation to promote environmentalism, education and the arts. The program has served as a model for similar Chevron-sponsored initiatives in Australia and Norway.
Chevron funding helps support the SWT Spey Bay wildlife reserve, where a rare pebble beach creates a sensitive ecosystem. SWT also received funding for a high-definition webcam at the osprey nest at the Loch of the Lowes nature reserve.
Our donations to the Royal Society for Protection of Birds (RSPB) have helped support a number of projects in the region, including the improvement of visitor facilities at the Sumburgh Head peninsula. Chevron works with the RSPB to help fund and support the Udale Bay bird sanctuary on the Cromarty Firth. Chevron also supports the University of Aberdeen's zoology department's Cromarty Lighthouse project. As the authoritative center for research into the Moray Firth dolphin population, the project plays a key role in wildlife protection and monitoring in the area.
Updated: September 2011
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