Community & Development

Volunteering and charitable donations

FareShare is our National Charity Partner and the UK’s largest food redistribution charity fighting hunger and food waste.

Through volunteering and charitable donations, our support for FareShare relieves food poverty by redistributing surplus food to over 10,000 frontline charities and community groups across the UK:

• Homeless hostels
• Domestic violence refuges
• Schools
• Drug rehabilitation centres

Young Enterprise

Financial literacy

We provide funding and undertake volunteering with Young Enterprise, the UK’s leading enterprise and financial education charity, which helps young people build connections between education and the world of work.

By providing financial education and guidance, our volunteering with Young Enterprise supports students to realise their potential, improving their confidence, knowledge and employability.

Small Business Challenge

By mentoring students as they work together through a structured exercise to buy and launch a small business, our volunteers help students develop their financial knowledge.

Investing in the next generation is vital. After all, these are the people who will be running our country, leading and making our economy work and looking after our planet.

Andrea Newell

Operations Excellence Manager

Hitachi Capital Business Finance

CV and Interview Skills Masterclass

Our colleagues provide advice on the qualities employers are looking for to improve young people’s job hunting prospects, enabling them to gain a better understanding of how to become a successful candidate.

We talked a lot about how to emphasise skills that help young people demonstrate examples of resilience, problem solving, leadership, collaborating, creativity and time management.

Charlotte Watmore

Learning and Development Partner

HITACHI CAPITAL (UK) PLC

National Fiver and Tenner Challenge

We support the National Fiver and the National Tenner Challenge Programmes which give school pupils aged 5 to 19 the opportunity to develop key employability skills and gain a better understanding of the world of work.

The nationwide programme for young people promotes innovation, creativity and problem solving, with budding entrepreneurs tasked with setting up a profitable business.

My participation involved meeting the children and chatting to them about their experience during the Fiver Challenge. I gave feedback to everyone on why Hitachi chose Brain Freeze as the National Fiver Challenge winners and presented the group with their award.

Rachel Fowler

Credit Risk Manager

Hitachi Capital Invoice Finance

The Wildlife Trusts

Volunteer Days 

Through our participation in ‘Wild Work’ volunteer days for the Wildlife Trusts, we are helping to save and protect wildlife and natural habitats.

The Wildlife Trusts is an independent charity made up of 47 local wildlife conservation charities located across the UK. As the third largest voluntary sector land owners in the UK, the Wildlife Trusts collectively preserve and maintain 2,300 nature reserves across 98,000 hectares in the UK.

Managing habitats  

The Wildlife Trusts’ 40,000 volunteers helps manage habitats and green spaces at nature reserves close to our UK office locations.

During ‘Wild Work’ volunteer days our volunteers participate in projects to preserve wildlife and wild places including ground clearance, tree planting and path making.

Our partnership with The Wildlife Trusts is supporting the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Our work to protect terrestrial ecosystems and biodiversity directly supports goal 15, Life on Land.

Apprenticeships

Through our Gamechangers apprenticeship scheme, Hitachi Capital (UK) PLC is unlocking hidden pathways in financial services for school-leavers.

Partnership with Visionpath

We have formed a partnership with Visionpath to enable young people, from diverse backgrounds, to pursue a career in financial services with one of the UK’s leading financial services companies and realise their potential.

Gamechangers Programme

Following monthly mentoring at Hitachi Capital UK, our Gamechangers apprenticeship year-long programme will see 25 students join the Group across our offices in Autumn 2020, with the opportunity to build an understanding of financial services whilst pursuing a variety of career paths.

• All apprenticeships will carry recognised qualifications at a minimum of Level 3

• All roles will be paid at National Living Wage

• Successful applicants will receive the same benefits enjoyed by all our people

• Mentoring guidance and support from our people and our partners at Visionpath

Atlantic Challenge

Pioneering Spirit

Embracing a Pioneering Spirit and having the courage to try new things is at the heart of what we do which is why Hitachi Capital UK proudly sponsored the Ancient Mariners transatlantic four-man crew skippered by our Chairman, Guy Munnoch.

The team, with a combined age of 257 years and 10 days on the day they left the Canary Islands, successfully completed the 2019 Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge after 49 days, 8 hours and 40 minutes at sea, becoming the oldest British quartet ever to row 3,000 miles across the Atlantic Ocean.  

Mental and physical endurance

The Ancient Mariners endured a non-stop punishing rowing schedule of two hours on, two hours off shift pattern for 24 hours a day, consuming only de-hydrated food whilst making their own drinking water on-board. 

Regarded as the world’s toughest annual rowing race, the crew overcame seasickness in up to 20ft waves, storms, salt sores, blisters, dehydration, sleep deprivation and exhaustion to reach Antigua in their 8.7 metre Hitachi Capital (UK) PLC sponsored ‘Grey Escape’ vessel.

The Ancient Mariners' record breaking adventure has also made a positive difference to society by raising over £20,000 for their chosen charities, Blind Veterans UK and Open Arms Malawi with £5,000 donated by Hitachi Capital (UK) PLC.