Investing in our local community
We play a positive, supportive, and leading role in our local community. As proud sponsors of Ashton Gate Stadium’s South Stand and the Bristol Bears Academy, along with principal sponsor of the Bristol Flyers basketball team and the Bristol Bears Women’s rugby team, we are invested in supporting the role of sport in the community. We recognise the positive impact and powerful influence that sport has with the breaking down of social boundaries, age groups and inequalities.
Our Bristol Bears Internship Programme
Our sponsorship of the Bristol Bears Academy invests in youngsters aged 13 years upwards. We piloted the programme in 2020 with our first intern, Harry Rowson, a member of the Bears scholarship programme and an aspiring accountant. The 2021/22 programme sees a further 13 scholars join.
The programme aims to develop the young Bears Academy players on and off the field. The internship is designed to open up opportunities for them to gain academic skills alongside sport so that they have something to fall back on if they don’t make it to a professional level. 25 companies have bought into our programme, including the Bristol offices of Airbus, DAC Beachcroft, Matrix and Robert Half.
The programme matches each scholar to a company that meets their interests, be it law, finance, construction or sport. Each scholar has the opportunity to choose the company, and they can try out different placements throughout the programme if unsure about where their future career path lies.
Bristol Bears player sponsorship – Dave Attwood
Having worked closely with the Bears Academy, we developed a strong affinity with Dave Attwood, a player that has been through the academy and has since set up the Bristol University Dave Attwood Rugby Scholarship. Dave does a host of charitable work and has signed up for another year with the Bears whilst completing his law degree to set him up for his post-rugby career. These principles embody the philosophy of Xledger and our commitment to sponsoring Dave Attwood’s efforts is the first step towards Xledger extending support to more professionals post-career.
Helping the community
At Xledger, we believe in helping those who are least empowered.
When the coronavirus crisis hit, we produced and delivered PPE to the frontline heroes in the Bristol community who were understocked.
In 2021, we partnered with Ashton Gate to celebrate the NHS’s fantastic achievement of reaching the milestone of 75,000, 100,000 and 125,000 vaccinations at the South Stand, by providing a complimentary lunch for all workers to celebrate the key milestones.
Volunteering
We run two charity workdays each year, where we spend the working day helping a local charity, instead of coming into the office.
Fundraising
In July 2018, part of the Xledger UK team cycled from London to Paris to raise money for the Big Issue. In 2020, we embarked on a virtual mission to visit our global offices and raise money for the NHS frontline workers.