Dubai chamber's Give '&' Gain Day 2014 volunteering initiative registration begins

Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry's ENGAGE Dubai initiative, managed by its Centre for Responsible Business, has started registration for its largest and most prestigious employee volunteering initiative Give '&' Gain Day to be held in Dubai on May 15. The global event is organised in cooperation with Business in the Community (BITC) UK. Give '&' Gain Day is a celebration of the power and potential of employee volunteering across the world. Participating for the fourth year running, ENGAGE Dubai will mobilise employees to volunteer during work hours in communities to make a real difference on the issues that matter to the business community, schools, universities, local charities and community groups. The Centre for Responsible Business started registrations on March 3 for participation in the global initiative which aims to encourage companies to work jointly with like-minded organisations. The expertise and time employee volunteers give to communities will make a difference that is remarkable. Dr. Belaid Rettab, Senior Director, Economic Research and Sustainable Business Development Sector, Dubai Chamber, stated that the Give '&' Gain Day initiative comes as part of Dubai Chamber's efforts to promote responsible business and to spread a culture of corporate social responsibility as well as to spark the desire to adopt voluntary work amongst the business community. By getting unprecedented numbers of people out volunteering on one day, we're championing the talent, skill and energy found in business and the role it can play in helping communities prosper, said Dr. Rettab while calling upon companies to participate in the voluntary programme's activities and to make a difference in the lives of the various sections of the society who deserve and need this type of support. Give '&' Gain Day is an opportunity for companies to harness the skills and energy of their workforce to help support the community. There are two ways businesses can get involved in the initiative. Companies can sign up to a project brokered by Engage Dubai or they can arrange their own Give '&' Gain Day activity - any project where employees are spending working hours helping the local community. Engage Dubai has worked with its community partners including Angel Appeal, Higher College of Technology Dubai Men's College, Education4all, EWS-WWF, Goumbook, Growing Leaders Foundation, Injaz, InnerG Solutions, Manzil, Mawaheb, M?decins Sans Fronti?res, Smartlife, Pure Heart, Sailability, Sheikh Mohammed Centre for Cultural Understanding, University of Dubai, Operation Smile and START, to come up with some great projects that companies can just sign up to like CV workshops for university students, soft skills training for cancer survivors, gift wrapping for seafarers and painting with special needs students. According to a survey by ENGAGE Dubai, 100% of corporate volunteers that took part in Give '&' Gain Day 2013 in Dubai said that it was important for them that their employer supports volunteering; 90.3% felt the time required to participate as a volunteer was rewarded by the benefits of their experience; 96.7% felt they developed skills as a result of volunteering e.g. teamwork, communication; 83.3% thought the skills/competencies they developed will be useful in a work context and 71% of employees felt more committed to their employer as a result of the company's supporting volunteering through Give '&' Gain Day. This year countries as diverse as Argentina, China, Czech Republic, Ecuador, Hungary, India, Iran, Kenya, Mexico, Romania, Serbia, Spain, Taiwan and Turkey will be participating in the global event. Last year over 22,000 employees across 24 Engage cities took part globally and organisers expect this year's event to be even bigger. Set up in November 2008 by the Centre for Responsible Business, ENGAGE Dubai is an international programme, which brings together businesses and community organisations around in Dubai to increase the quality and amount of employee community engagement in their local communities. The ENGAGE programme has been established since 2002 in London by Business in the Community (BITC) and is operating in other major cities such as Paris, Frankfurt, Istanbul, and Hong Kong.