“Social enterprises have the potential to re-energise communities and drive social regeneration. Enterprise Mentors from ELBA’s partners and supporting companies help our aspiring social entrepreneurs to gain skills, knowledge and understanding to take forward their ideas and become catalysts for community transformation.”

“For the end of year Christmas Party, we have been able to give the children toys donated through ELBA’s Toy Appeal. Many of the children would normally go without, and we would not have been able to provide such wonderful presents if it were not for the hard work of the ELBA team and the generous support from their corporate and other partners. The toys have always been of such high quality and of an educational value. Many of the parents thank us, as they truly appreciate their worth.”

“I am enormously grateful to ELBA for the ongoing contribution they make to ELATT. Through their excellent brokerage we have made vital links with city firms that have had an immediate impact on the lives of the people we help. Our learners develop interview skills at workshops with Linklaters and UBS and develop the confidence to move into paid work; our apprenticeships secure positions at Morgan Stanley – job opportunities with real prospects. ELBA’s support helps us raise expectation and aspiration.”

“Our partnership with ELBA creates practical, real life activities which motivate our students to work hard and achieve great grades. When a group of students recently visited Morgan Stanley, not only was this the first time they had been to a company, it was also the first time they had gone to Canary Wharf. They were truly inspired and have been pestering me ever since to see if we can repeat the visit.”

“The contact with my mentor has been great in that it is personalised and very high level. I trust that he understands the issues I am talking about and their importance, in the context of our wider organisational priorities. This is hard to replicate with training courses or group activities, because it has been so well targeted to our needs at a particular point.”

“The Career Capital Business Club run by ELBA is fantastic, particularly if you’re interested in a career in Investment Banking. I am currently working in the City as an Investment Banking intern, which would not have been possible if I had not taken the time to apply for the business club scheme and made a point of networking with professionals in a variety of areas within an Investment Bank. I would strongly recommend the programme to undergraduates irrespective of whether or not you know what career path you are looking to pursue.”

“Working with Macquarie through London Works has enabled several of our students to gain valuable internships and experience that they are unlikely to have obtained otherwise.  Macquarie’s commitment to a diverse workforce and London Works’ tireless efforts and expertise to help prepare students for the workplace has enabled this to happen. I am delighted to have been part of this project and even more thrilled to see its effect on our students. As a result at least two of our students have obtained permanent job offers from Macquarie.”

We held the joint Hope Family Centre & Barking Foodbank Christmas party on 22nd December and more than 250 people, including our clients, their children, their families and friends attended. It was hugely successful. It would have be impossible to put a smile on so many faces without ELBA’s support. The work you do linking corporates with small charities who otherwise wouldn’t have the opportunity is just phenomenal!

“This was an inspiring workshop that I am sure will have positive impacts on our Culture and Diversity & Inclusion initiatives.”

“I loved the open dialogue and learning about such an interesting charity, and discussing with such passionate people.”

“Working on interesting challenges, problem solving, and helping to develop the charity’s strategy is extremely interesting and a great learning experience, which has provided benefits that transfer into my day-to-day work.”

“We have benefitted from their expertise, fresh perspectives, and willingness to make meaningful contributions.”

We are so grateful for all the work ELBA has put into helping us. Teaming us up with professional corporations and their volunteers to paint our building; inviting us on their training program and facilitating the donation of much needed furniture for our space. Having volunteers from corporates bridges the gap, exposes issues facing our boroughs and encourages dialogue and understanding between individuals and groups alike. Everyone we have been in contact with at ELBA has been so friendly and meticulous, making every stage of each process clear and easy to follow. ELBA has inspired and encouraged us to carry on our work for the community as their activities have propelled our programmes for the future. We couldn’t be where we are today without their dedicated work.

Through our partnership with ELBA, we have received skills development workshops and mentors, virtual 1:1 coaching sessions and tech donations. Through ELBA and its business partners, we have received much needed equipment, including five laptops enabling us to expand our ICT Skills lessons for elderly people who might otherwise feel isolated and digitally excluded. In a world increasingly dominated by digital technology, digital inclusion is imperative. We look forward to our partnership with ELBA and its partners continuing.

We have recently developed a new link with ELBA and have been benefitting from the support on offer to charities in east London. ELBA helped us to find some brilliant staff from Accenture to facilitate a recent staff development day focusing on developing a behaviour framework. This is not something we would have been able to do without the pro bono support and introductions from ELBA. Some of our managers are also currently benefiting from the mentoring programme and have accessed other training sessions. We’re really grateful for the support and range of offers from ELBA that help small charities like us to offer opportunities for learning and development for our staff.

Our partnership with ELBA has seen a continuous stream of volunteers from the corporate world who come in on an ad-hoc basis to volunteer with Redbridge Foodbank. The corporate volunteers are an enormous help especially in some of our busiest times, such as Harvest, Christmas and large supermarket donation drive events when we need all hands on deck.

Our work with ELBA has supported young people and families for over 3 years, providing them with much needed digital equipment such as laptops and raspberry pi operating systems. Many of the young people that we support also benefit from ELBA’s Christmas Toy Drive. Also with the support of ELBA, we have been able to provide young people with smart phones along with data sim cards, stationary, earphones, travel adaptors and more.

ELBA have played an important role in capacity-building, through our involvement in several of their workshops and training sessions. We were also lucky enough to participate in the ELBA Board Match event in 2023, through which we recruited two fantastic new trustees that have contributed a great deal to the effectiveness of our organisation.