Kleinwort Hambros announces partnerships with Jersey Women’s Refuge and Guernsey’s Rural Occupational Workshop

The JWR focuses on supporting women and children fleeing from domestic abuse in Jersey. Through the partnership, Kleinwort Hambros will provide funding for two self-development courses for its service users, the Journey to Freedom and New Beginning Course, aimed at increasing the self-esteem, assertiveness, and confidence of the women they work with in their own skills and capacities, setting them up for success to re-enter the workforce.

GROW provides training and mentorship for adults with learning disabilities and difficulties in a safe and stimulating environment helping them develop self-confidence and life skills needed to be included and valued within a workplace and the wider community. Kleinwort Hambros will provide funding to enable seven training supervisors to undergo an award in “Education and Training”, ensuring they acquire the necessary skills and knowledge to enable them to teach or train in the further education and skills sector.

Both partnerships are a continuation of Kleinwort Hambros’ commitment to working closely with local communities and organisations as part of its responsibility to clients, colleagues, and community. Last year, it partnered with The Brilliant Club to deliver an educational course to students from underrepresented backgrounds across the UK, helping them to progress in their education and manage their own finances.

Phil McIlwraith, Chief Executive Officer at Kleinwort Hambros Channel Islands, commented: “We value our local communities and are keen to make a positive difference within them. As such, we are delighted to support both partnerships, working closely with them to help provide people with the assistance they need to succeed in their future careers, and helping to instil a sense of self-esteem and confidence in the victims of domestic abuse.

“As part of our ambition to be the leading responsible bank for client service and expertise, we know that we can create a positive impact and we are committed to contributing to a better future for our clients, colleagues, community and climate.”

Jess Aughton, General Manager at GROW, said: “GROW’s team of supervisors have a broad range of experience and skills who already provide a comprehensive training and mentoring programme for the Crew. Our partnership with Kleinwort Hambros will significantly enhance those skills and broaden what we can provide through funding qualifications for both the crew and the staff. These will help improve employability, confidence and ability in a range of vocational areas for the crew, whilst upskilling our staff’s ability to deliver training. We are thankful for Kleinwort Hambros’ support and are looking forward to working with their team over the next two years.

We’ve already seen and felt the benefits of the partnership, and are delighted to be the proud recipients of a van which was surplus to Kleinwort Hambros requirements, and has been in daily use transporting tools and equipment between garden maintenance contract locations and carrying out plant deliveries.”

Marine Oliveira, Domestic Abuse Prevention Advocate, JWR comments: “We gratefully welcome the support of Kleinwort Hambros as JWR's work is critical in protecting survivors of domestic abuse and preventing further harm to them and their children. One of the organisation’s key mission is to raise awareness on the issues surrounding domestic abuse, though education. Our self-development groups offer survivors of abuse a safe place to reflect on their experiences and build on their confidence, self-esteem and knowledge of domestic abuse. These workshops form an essential part of a survivor's healing journey and with the assistance of Kleinwort Hambros, we can ensure these are offered to as many women as possible.”