Community Matters is the charitable giving scheme that runs throughout John Lewis & Partners shops. You'll come across a similar scheme at your local Waitrose & Partners too.
Every 3 months each shop selects 3 community groups or charities to help. Customers are directly involved in deciding how much each nominated group receives, by using a token to vote for the organisation they'd like to support.
Each shop has £3,000 per quarter to donate, which is shared between the charities according to the proportion of the vote they've received from customers. = For example, if a charity receives 31% of the votes, it receives a £910 donation.
Charities will receive support in whichever way will benefit them the most, either in the form of products, volunteering time from Partners, or as cash. Financial support for good causes in this way amounts to over £0.5 million a year.
The Community Matters boxes are located in cafes, restaurants or customer collection points in each shop. You can collect a token to donate every time you shop, and you’ll see regular updates in store of how the donations have been awarded.
Organisations eligible for Community Matters includes charities, schools and relevant community groups. Partners in the shop will look at the requests submitted, and choose 3 organisations to support for the next quarter.
If you're involved with an organisation that would like to be considered for Community Matters, please complete this nomination form and take it to the Customer Services department in your local John Lewis & Partners.