Corporate citizenship
Being recognised as a good "corporate citizen" is a key focus for Roke.
Our goal is simple. To help make our community a better place. This means leveraging our know-how, financial resources and the commitment and enthusiasm of our employees to improve life in the communities in which we live and work.
Our activities are diverse. They extend from supporting a host of charity and fundraising initiatives, to working closely with local schools and colleges in a range of educational projects to inspire more young people to take an active interest in science and engineering. We believe that the latter is fundamental in ensuring that the UK continues to compete on the world stage in developing the cutting edge technology of the future.
So how do we get involved?
Education
We support projects across all stages of education from primary through to university, which are promoted under the Siemens Generation21 banner.
These projects have included sponsoring the Hampshire Solar Challenge, where primary school children built and raced solar power cars, to mentoring college students on the Engineering Education Scheme (EES) run by the Royal Academy of Engineering, and supplying a complete HF amateur radio station to Intech - an educational charity run by the Hampshire Technology Centre.
We have built a strong relationship with the Quilley School of Engineering in Eastleigh where we have used one of our products (HALO) to illustrate the practical aspects of electronic engineering in a workshop which challenges and excites the students about science.
Charitable events
The Siemens Caring Hands programme relates to the volunteering and social giving projects we support.
The Romsey Young Carers Project (RYCP) has been identified as our Charity of the Year for 2008 and will act as the main focus for our official fundraising activities throughout the year. RYCP is a very small charity which relies heavily on local volunteers to support children and young persons who care within their own families.
We have previously raised funds for Children in Need and Honeypot, a respite centre for under privileged children in the New Forest, through organising a variety of individual and corporate activities such as cake sales and rowing competitions.
A number of local initiatives continue to benefit from our support, especially those that are focused on children and young or disadvantaged people, or where our employees are actively involved.