At John Laing we have come to understand our community vision and strategy is an integralpart of the Group's "genetic makeup". After celebrating our 160th anniversary two years ago in 2008, we have seen our vision evolve over many decades to provide support in the areas in which we are able to make the most difference. These are most commonly, areas in which we have established local connections and have extensive local knowledge enabling us to highlight and capture issues which are not only important to the success of our business, but also to the communities we operate in. Our position as a leading provider of social infrastructure allows us to facilitate bridging between the private and public sectors. We work with charities to address issues raised by the public and statutory bodies and encourage ways of engaging more effectively and efficiently in the neighbourhoods in which we invest.

John Laing's key principle is to make a difference and this is achieved by working in partnership with organisations where our multi sector experience and areas of business operation will make a difference to our community partners. This year we have further developed these long standing relationships with national and local charities with the aspiration of developing and maturing community projects into sustainable solutions.

Our corporate strategy revolves around three levels of community engagement:

Strategic partnerships - medium to long term community projects involving local authorities, agencies, the third sector and the John Laing Charitable Trust

Team activities - involving our employees in local community projects

Individual staff initiatives - the commitment and involvement from our staff is integral to our community vision. It is therefore imperative that we encourage and support our staff's effort.

Please read our Community Policy for more information.

Our objectives are to: -

• Ensure geographically clustered investments, jointly set annual objectives and targets for community engagement
• Promote through education, training, health and wellbeing the rights for all to a quality of life at all ages, with an aim to reduce inequality
• Innovate by creating imaginative responsive and sustainable solutions that are capable of local delivery
• Enable the participation of local people and groups in decisions to ensure development of sustainable solutions with value for all community stakeholders
• Develop strategic partnerships with the voluntary sector to maximise potential and impact from sharing expertise
• Recognise the socially responsible heritage and community values associated with John Laing and to work with John Laing Charitable Trust to ensure that these values Make a Difference for the communities in which we invest

John Laing's community involvement can be identified as a three tier structure; please see below for examples:

Strategic Level

The Prince's Trust

As patrons of The Prince's Trust Constructiona and Business Services Leadership Groupand its 'Get into Construction' programmes, John Laing looks to consistently engage its employees with the work of The Trust in the following ways:

• developing John Laing staff involvement to encourage fundraising activity and Corporate Volunteer Network participation, to bring staff together and develop skills while raising funds for the Trust; and
• fostering a closer relationship with the; 'Get into Construction' programmes, as a result of being patrons of the Constructiona and Business Services Leadership Group

Project Level

Newham Hospital

The Project Company at Newham Hospital received a grant of £1,500 from the John Laing Charitable trust to help towards revamping the children's courtyard. All labour was undertaken by the Newham team and our contractors, allowing all funds to go towards new toys, paint and furniture tocreate a better environment for children that visited the ward.

Finance Operations Team

Our Head Office Finance Operations team chose to complete their 2008 objective by spending a day clearing woodland along the river Crane at Cranford Park in Hounslow. The main felling within the woodland had been completed and the team were asked to help burn off the top brush and create dead wood stacks out of the felled material. This would then open up the river corridor for aquatic and woodland ground plants and also encourage more wildlife such as water voles, kingfishers and bats.

Individual Level

Christmas Donation 2009

For the fourth year running John Laing held a competition for staff members to nominate a charity to receive a donation of £5,000 from the John Laing Charitable Trust. This is in place of the Group sending Christmas cards. The nominations were judged anonymously and we were very pleased to announce this year's winner asThe Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust.People and the Dales enables a wide range of community groups from disadvantaged urban backgrounds to access the countryside of the Yorkshire Dales. The £5,000 will enable approximately 400 people from disadvantaged urban areas to have that sense of achievement and wellbeing through a visit with People and the Dales.