As part of their commitment to community initiatives in the Isle of Man, staff from Barclays Wealth have continued to dedicate significant time and effort to Junior Achievement Isle of Man by clocking up over 500 volunteering hours during 2010. As well as financially supporting Junior Achievement with annual donations, Barclays Wealth is also dedicated to allowing staff to volunteer to help with classroom sessions and activities. Through activities at primary and secondary schools throughout last year, the team of volunteers donated over 350 hours of their time to teaching and more than 150 hours to the preparation and planning of the sessions. In addition to these hours, 20 members of staff have also volunteered to complete the newly launched Community Volunteering Qualification which is run by Junior Achievement and sponsored by Barclays Wealth. The qualification is made up of a number of modules including fundraising, teamwork skills, volunteering at an event, development and communication skills and time management. Anybody who has volunteered over 20 hours of their time in an 18 month period is eligible to undertake the qualification and on average it will take 9 months to complete. Staff members Kerrie McCauley and Andy Finch have worked closely with the Junior Achievement team to develop the qualification and have trained to become assessors. Sue Cook, CEO of Junior Achievement said ‘I am thrilled that we are now able to reward our wonderful team of volunteers for all their hard work. None of this would have been possible without the support of Barclays Wealth.’ Greg Ellison, Managing Director of Barclays Wealth said: ‘As the largest private sector employer on the Island we are passionate about supporting organisations such as Junior Achievement that develop the skills of young people entering the workforce. The sessions that are run in schools help children to develop real-life skills which can make a big difference to their lives. In addition to this, our employees achieve invaluable self-development experience by volunteering to help implement new programmes and initiatives and we are delighted to continue our support. ENDS