Citi Singapore And TOUCH Community Services Announce Partnership To Strengthen Volunteerism

The six-month partnership will see more than 1,300 volunteering opportunities taken up by Citi volunteers to serve some 3,600 TOUCH beneficiaries comprising children, vulnerable families, people with special needs and the elderly.

Delivering meals to frail elderly and accompanying them for medical appointments; interacting with persons with special needs and supporting them in mobility training; and mentoring children from disadvantaged families are some of the activities that Citi Singapore volunteers will be involved in through the firm’s community partnership with TOUCH Community Services, in the national-level corporate volunteerism pilot.

Called ‘Project V’, the six-month pilot led by the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth (MCCY) SG Cares Office, National Council of Social Service (NCSS), and National Volunteer and Philanthropy Centre (NVPC) will bring together the 3P (Private-Public-People) sectors to forge sustainable volunteer partnerships. Demand partners comprising Social Service Agencies (SSAs), SG Cares Volunteer Centres, MSF CommLinks, KidSTART and Agency for Integrated Care, will be matched with supply partners which include MNCs, SMEs, and public agencies, to partner in specific regular volunteering programmes.

The Citi-TOUCH partnership will see Citi staff across all levels of seniority from its Singapore-based teams contributing their skills and committing over 4,400 volunteering hours to serve in four key community activities by TOUCH (please refer to Annex 1 for details). The initiative was announced at Citi’s Family Day/Global Community Day event at Gardens by the Bay on Saturday, June 10.

Speaking at the event, Tibor Pandi, Citi Country Officer for Singapore, spoke on Citi’s sustained contribution to the community, “Citi’s mission is to enable growth and progress to our clients and the community, and that commitment has guided us in making a difference in Singapore since 1902. In additional to Citi’s Global Community Day campaign and other volunteer projects throughout the year, the Project V partnership with TOUCH will enable Citi to continue delivering on our corporate purpose and allow Citibankers to serve in a more sustained and impactful manner for the long term.”

This latest partnership will deepen Citi’s support towards TOUCH’s work in building enabled communities. Since 2016, Citi has been supporting TOUCH’s youth work through its Citi Foundation-funded ASPIRE programme at ITE College East, which seeks to strengthen youths’ employability prospects through interest-based skills coaching and mentoring. Over 8,800 under-served youths have benefitted from the Programme since its inception, and 789 youths received certification on skills training.

James Tan, Chief Executive Officer of TOUCH Community Services, who also spoke at the Citi Family Day event shared, “We are excited to embark on this enriching volunteering journey with Citi Singapore through Project V. Our vision of building enabled communities is aligned with Citi’s mission of enabling growth and progress. We are grateful that Citi Singapore has taken the lead to uplift more lives by working towards a long-term volunteering partnership with TOUCH. We hope that this partnership will inspire other corporates and social service agencies to harness the power of collaboration, to further grow and sustain volunteerism.”

“We are also happy to see our children from TOUCH Young Arrows bonding with family members and enjoying the company of Citi volunteers. We can further strengthen our social compact with the building of strong families and mobilising stakeholders to develop a deeper sense of responsibility for one another,” added Mr Tan.

Tony Soh, Chief Executive Officer of NVPC, shared his support for the Citi-TOUCH Project V partnership, “NVPC actively encourages its 2,600-strong base of Company of Good members to deepen their contributions and societal impact for Singapore through their Corporate Purpose journey. As one of our exemplary Champions of Good, we are delighted that Citi continues to uplift the community, this time through partnering TOUCH Community Services in Project V, a national pilot on corporate volunteerism. We commend Citi and TOUCH for leading the way in partnering for greater societal impact.”