Skills-based training. (Business and Industry).

In 2000 Andrea Cooper, a manager in the consumer products multinational Procter and Gamble, became a lead member of her company's 10-strong community relations initiative in Harrogate, Yorkshire. On the face of it, the spa town of 100,000 people had few problems, with full employment and a low crime rate. So the team decided to give skills-based training to teenagers, `in order to give lasting benefit to the community', in line with a corporate theme of `improving the lives of the next generation'.

They enrolled the support of the local member of parliament, 10 P&G managers, six head teachers, 20 local businesses and many local voluntary organizations. Over six Sundays, local business managers trained 16- to 18-year-olds in personal development skills, ranging from swinging on 50ft-high trapeze ropes to time management and communications skills. The 20 teenagers were then placed with a local charity. They were each given 500 [pounds sterling] and access to a business mentor and were charged with leading a project within their chosen charity. `The charities benefited immensely as the skilled young leaders were able to deliver significant results,' Cooper said. `What we have delivered across the two years has been truly amazing and was heralded by the UK General Manager as P&G community relations at its best.'

The experience had given her a great sense of pride in her company, she told the CCBI conference. `A recent report claims that 80 per cent of employees consider a company's ethics more important than a higher salary. The project is now delivered twice a year by a new generation of young managers, who through their own personal involvement are also benefiting.'