John Lewis Partnership has announced two new charity partnerships to celebrate 20 years of its volunteering programme, The Golden Jubilee Trust (GJT). Some 20 Partners will be assigned for up to six months to the charities FareShare and SeeAbility to help them grow.

Providing community support and volunteering opportunities is an integral part of the Partnership.

Partners will support food redistribution charity FareShare to help improve its day-to-day operations to address food poverty. This builds on the support John Lewis & Partners and Waitrose & Partners provided last Christmas; giving over 1,500 people across the country the opportunity to enjoy a community festive feast.

Those assisting SeeAbility will help build, brand and market an employability toolkit for future employers. The aim is to help transform opportunities for people with learning disabilities, autism and sight loss to secure meaningful work.

In 20 years, GJT has given practical help to over 900 national and local charities across the UK.

It does this by placing Partners on secondments at a charity of their choice for up to six months. Volunteers remain on full Partnership pay and benefits during this time. In total, over 980 Partners have participated. This equates to over 393,000 hours as well as representing a community value of over £25 million.

Commenting on the Trust’s milestone is Liz Hogan, Partner and Golden Jubilee Trust manager. “Not only are we proud to have supported over 900 charities during our 20 years, but we’re delighted to honour this anniversary year by offering so many more Partner secondments to two important charities so that we can make a greater difference and help develop their vital work at a faster pace.”

For further information on John Lewis Partnership’s support for local communities, please click here.