Partner volunteering

Contributing to the well-being of our communities is about much more than just giving money. Our Partners make a genuine difference to communities and local people's lives by volunteering their time and skills.

The Partnership actively supports volunteering in a number of ways, such as through:

  • Involvement in Charity and Community Committees
  • Promoting volunteering opportunities
  • The Golden Jubilee Trust


Encouraging Partners to get involved in our community activities reinforces our commitment not just to our communities, but to our Partners as well. They can develop new skills, grow in confidence, take on new responsibilities and become more motivated. In the London Victoria area alone, volunteers have been involved in a local school's lunchtime reading club, revamping a youth club's theatre space, sorting out clothes donated to a charity for the homeless and creating a garden for the residents of an Autism London care centre.

John Lewis Newcastle's Community Liaison Coordinator Denise Nunn in the branch's Community Room
John Lewis Newcastle's Community Liaison Coordinator Denise Nunn in the branch's Community Room

Case Study: Community Rooms

In 2011, John Lewis Newcastle and three other John Lewis stores began trialling an initiative that provides a Community Room for use by charities and community organisations. The free resource is available for events ranging from volunteer recruitment fairs and activity classes to regional meetings and staff training courses. Barry Blamire, managing director of John Lewis Newcastle, explains: 'We take our role as an active member of the community seriously, and the Community Room is a simple idea designed to extend our support even further. When we have the available space in our shops, we should open our doors to charitable organisations who are crying out for the space. We’d like our shops to become a place where the community is happy to spend time, for use as a genuine resource.' Other John Lewis shops trialling the scheme are Glasgow, Cardiff and Watford. Each branch will assess the needs of the community in their area and develop a template to roll out to other John Lewis full-line department stores.

Related pages

  • CSR reports
    Our CSR performance is publicly reported. Read our current and past reports.

  • Our community
    The Partnership aims to be a force for good in the communities we're part of.

  • Our Partners
    Partners from around the business speak passionately about why they work for the Partnership.

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