Charitable donations made during the year amounted to £186,000 (2006: £147,000), with group contributions being made in two ways. Firstly, group companies contribute to recognised charities where significant humanitarian or environmental incidents have occurred. Also staff may have their own charitable fundraising endeavours matched by the group; we continue to look to improve staff awareness of this to encourage participation.

Further, the group seeks to encourage staff themselves to make charitable donations by offering, and paying the administration costs of, a Give As You Earn scheme.