Commit to Change
The world's local bank- USA – Higher education support for students
- France – HSBC Education Foundation
- Korea – Island Watch for a Future Generation
- Malaysia – Reading and Writing Programme
- UK – Thriftwood school
- New Zealand – The Gifted Kids Programme
- China – Rural teacher training course
- UK – Kielder Challenge
- Singapore – Youth Excellence Initiative
- Australia – HSBCkids
- UK and Korea – Outward Bound
- USA – Boys & Girls Clubs of America
- Global – Future First: Investing in our children
- UK – On-line mathematics
- South Africa – Disadvantaged schools
- Brazil – HSBC Solidarity Institute
- USA – Jumpstart
- Thailand – HSBC children's book
- UK – Tall Ships Youth Trust
- China and Hong Kong – Mainland/Hong Kong Exchange Programme in Special Education
- Malta and the UK – Eco-Schools
- UK – HSBC scholars
- India – Madhapur Mandal school
- UK – School governors
- Hong Kong, China, and Brazil – Zippy's Friends
- USA and UK – Teach for America/Teach First
- Canada – York University scholarship fund
- UK – Sailing Academies
- China – Soaring under the sun
- China – HSBC China Charity Federation Fund
Global – Future First: Investing in our children
Launched by the HSBC Global Education Trust at the end of 2006, Future First is a five-year, US$10 million programme designed to help one million street children globally to realise a better future. HSBC has launched Future First in line with its own focus on supporting disadvantaged young people, and recognises the seriousness of the plight that these children face.
Under the Future First programme, HSBC offices in 82 countries and territories will be able to bid for funding to partner local organisations working on projects in their own communities to help street children.
UNICEF estimates that there are 100 million street children in the world today. They may be children of war, victims of terrorism, sex workers, or AIDS orphans, but they all have one thing in common - they are coping with desperate situations without the support of a loving, caring adult.
The future of any country and the economic prosperity of its inhabitants rests on how equably everyone can live together. Street children, children in care and orphans are the most impoverished members of society. HSBC is the first global organisation, with a reach across 82 countries and territories, to adopt their cause across its operations. HSBC hopes that its commitment to Future First will engage its staff as volunteers and ultimately its customers to share our community focus.
Future First will award funding to charities working with HSBC partners on projects relating to street children, children in care and orphans. HSBC has appointed country coordinators for the programme in each country or territory where it operates. These coordinators will receive bids from charities (in a specific format) and, if suitable, submit them for approval to the Future First Global Secretariat in Mumbai, India. Bids recommended by the Secretariat will be forwarded to the HSBC Global Education Trust (the Trust) for review three times a year. Once approved by the Trust, grants will be released to the recipient charity. Bids will only be accepted from HSBC country coordinators; charities may not apply independently.
While Future First aims to work with a wide number of charities, a principal partner for projects relating to orphans will be SOS Children's Villages (SOS), a charity operating in 132 countries, 47 of which overlap with HSBC. SOS Children's Villages has been helping disadvantaged children in a number of ways for over fifty years and HSBC has already partnered with them on other projects, (eg tsunami relief work). Follow these links for examples of the projects SOS undertakes and how they have worked previously with HSBC.
To find out more, have a look at the accompanying video.
To read about current Future First projects, click here.
