GE Capital partners with Platform 51

GE Capital has joined forces with Platform 51 to help the charity improve and streamline its back office functions, freeing up time for staff to deliver more front-line support for women and girls in England and Wales.

Founded over 160 years ago as the Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA), Platform 51 is a leading women’s charity delivering support programmes that help women and girls work through specific life challenges and regain their sense of self-worth. Programmes delivered cover issues relating to mental health, domestic violence, crime and justice, poverty, childcare and education as well as self-esteem and confidence-building to enter the workforce. The charity operates from centres across England and Wales and via outreach in schools, community centres, youth clubs, mother and baby units and prisons.

After close consultation with the charity, GE Capital has pledged to provide £24,000 to be invested in new finance and IT systems. GE Capital expert volunteers and mentors will also work with the charity to provide:

• Advice on improvements to financial processes, and project management on the installation of a new finance and accounting system
• Assessment of the charity’s IT infrastructure, and the donation and installation of IT hardware from the GE Capital inventory worth an additional £17,500 to boost internet access and network connectivity across its centres in England and Wales
• ‘Train the trainer’ workshops for charity staff in project management, and on software packages such as Outlook, Excel, and PowerPoint

Deborah Mattinson, Chair of Platform 51 said: “We warmly welcome the business skills and mentoring input from GE Capital which we know will have benefit for us all at Platform 51. The investment support we are receiving from GE Capital will enable us to focus more time on much needed initiatives to support vulnerable girls and women by cutting time spent on administration. This support is invaluable as we look to increase our reach and the number of women we can support in 2013”.

John Jenkins, Chief Executive Officer of GE Capital UK, advised: “Platform 51 is an organisation that makes a real difference to the lives of girls and women across the country, so we are delighted to be supporting such a worthy cause. We hope that through our efforts we can build a strong partnership which will create a positive and lasting impact on the organisation”.

GE Capital’s global ‘Building Through Diversity’ programme is part of the company’s commitment to strengthening communities through philanthropy and volunteering. GE Capital puts its resources and employees’ expertise to work, in order to use their professional skills to help the community, and bring best practices back to the business. The programme focuses on two key areas: supporting disadvantaged youth and empowering women and has recently been expanded to four major markets in Western Europe, with projects tailored for each country.

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Notes to editors:

About Platform 51

Founded over 160 years ago as the Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA), Platform 51 is a leading women’s charity delivering support programmes that help women and girls work through specific life challenges and regain their sense of self-worth. Programmes delivered cover issues relating to mental health, domestic violence, crime and justice, poverty, childcare and education as well as self-esteem and confidence-building to enter the workforce. The charity operates from centres across England and Wales and via outreach in schools, community centres, youth clubs, mother and baby units and prisons.

The charity’s HQ is based in Oxford and it has women-only centres across England and Wales based in Doncaster, Knowsley, London West, Cardiff, West Kent, Bristol and Wolverhampton. Programmes are delivered through these centres and also via outreach in schools, community centres, youth clubs, prisons and mother and baby units.

The delivery of services to help girls and women tackle difficult life issues, regain their sense of self-worth and prepare to enter the workforce, represents Platform 51’s core charitable purpose. At a national level, Platform 51 ensures the girls and women it works with have a voice by giving them a platform to have their say and challenge discrimination. Equally, it champions their concerns through policy and stakeholder engagement.

Platform 51 is the operating name of YWCA England & Wales, a registered charity, number 217868. Its company number is 137113 and its registered office is New Barclay House, 234 Botley Road, Oxford, OX2 0HP.

For more information, please visit www.platform51.org, follow Platform 51 on Twitter [@platform51] or contact the Platform 51 Press Team on 01865 304217 or by email at pressteam@platform51.org. To make a donation to Platform 51, visit www.givingforgood.co.uk.

About GE Capital in the UK

GE Capital is one of the leading commercial finance providers in the UK with major operations in asset-based lending, fleet, leasing and healthcare financial services. GE Capital has major offices in Bristol, Sale and the London area and focuses on providing leasing and lending solutions, from working capital and investment finance through to fleet management and equipment leasing to mid-market customers. For more information, please visit www.gecapital.co.uk

About GE Capital

GE Capital offers consumers and businesses around the globe an array of financial products and services. For more information, visit www.gecapital.eu or follow company news via Twitter (@GECapital).

About GE

GE (NYSE: GE) works on things that matter. The best people and the best technologies taking on the toughest challenges. Finding solutions in energy, health and home, transportation and finance. For more information, visit ge.com