Pioneering Bristol-based giving platform Neighbourly is to help medium-sized firms find and support local charities and causes, so increasing their social and environmental impact.
Neighbourly’s platform was launched in 2014 to match large businesses with local good causes. 
It has since facilitated the donation of 120,000-plus volunteer hours, £23m in funding and more than 125m meals worth of surplus food.
This equates to a total financial impact of more than £255m and a C02 saving of over 198,000 tonnes.
Global brands using it deliver UK-wide but locally driven giving programmes have included Marks & Spencer, Aldi, Gallagher, Lidl, Samsung, B&Q and Virgin Media O2.
Now new features have been built specifically to help mid-tier organisations with employee volunteering, surplus product redistribution and financial donations – starting in Neighbourly’s home city of Bristol
The unique features not only create transparency around what is needed locally but also enable companies to measure the positive effect of their giving programmes through real-time impact dashboards which provide social and environmental metrics and sustainability reporting. 
Neighbourly is calling for leading businesses from across the city to sign up and be part of the movement to create £1bn in impact by 2025.
Neighbourly’s network includes more than 25,000 vetted charities and community groups – in the Bristol area alone there are more than 800 good causes on the platform, including schools, community centres, parks and homelessness charities seeking help.
The scheme is being supported by Redcliffe & Temple Business Improvement District (BID), whose head Steve Bluff said its business members had told it they wanted more innovative ways to support the local communities they operate in, including through volunteering and allocating grants.
“This programme has a strong alignment with the BID’s vision to help make the Redcliffe and Temple area vibrant, thriving, and sustainable for the whole community,” he added.
“We look forward to seeing the local impact we can collectively create through this platform.” 
Neighbourly CEO Steve Butterworth, pictured with COO Zoe Colosimo, said extending the platform’s capability to mid-size companies came at a time when demand for support from charities and local community groups was at an all-time high due to the cost of living and energy crisis.
“As a Bristol-based business, our home city was an obvious choice to kick off our mid-tier launch plan,” he added.
“Bristol has an abundance of successful businesses that operate in the heart of their communities.
“Using the Neighbourly platform will not only enable them to help build happy, healthy, and more resilient neighbourhoods, but also to measure their positive impact, which is truly unique to Neighbourly.”
Among the Bristol organisations supported by the platform is BS3 Community Development, which runs the Bedminster FOOD club in conjunction with Family Action.
BS3 Community Development’s Jackie Smith said: “Since the start of the cost of living crisis we’ve seen our regular service users increase from around 30 members to over 60, which is a huge rise in demand, and we know many other local frontline services are experiencing the same.
“The surplus and help we receive through Neighbourly is now absolutely necessary and we would not be able to provide our services without this support and that of other local businesses.”
Neighbourly is also calling on small charities and community organisations across Bristol to sign up for the platform for free, to connect with resources from the local business community. Organisations can express their interest by simply creating a profile for the platform
Neighbourly is currently the only platform that enables businesses to manage all their local giving in one place, helping companies to put their communities at the heart of responsible business.
