BUSINESS IN THE COMMUNITY: Anglo Irish Bank

(From left): Anthony Kavanagh, Sheila Peters, Aonghus O’Flaherty and Ella Wallace of Anglo Irish Bank, which won the Business
in the Community category, at the awards yesterday.

Now in its seventh year as a member of Business in the Community, Anglo Irish Bank first established its schools’ business partnership in 2000 with Warrenmount Community School in Dublin’s Liberties.

Since then, the bank has set up two further partnership programmes, with St Vincent’s School in Cork and St Paul’s in Waterford. The programmes work through a mentoring process to encourage students to stay in school and to reinforce the link between education and work.

More than 100 members of the bank’s Dublin staff have been involved in the Warrenmount partnership, spending time with students and helping them develop the skills to assist them in future workplaces.

Following the success of the Warrenmount scheme, the bank established the programmes with St Paul’s in Waterford and St Vincent’s in Cork, where the bank has regional offices, and is in the process of introducing a new initiative in Warrenmount to provide psychological support to junior cycle students.

Anglo Irish Bank is also set to launch a study skills course with an external company to assist first, third and sixth years. The bank has also organised seminars in social and personal development, leadership and art and is involved in a number of award ceremonies at the schools over the course of the academic year, organised to reward students for their achievements.

Highly commended:

• Barnardos;
• Childline’s Teentext;
• Open Learning Centre.