John Lewis Kingston is not just a wonderful place to shop, meet friends and attend in-store events, it is also passionate about supporting the local community. So much so, did you know that John Lewis Kingston employs a Community Liaison Co-ordinator (CLC) to do just that?

Your local CLC works tirelessly in the community to support local charities and community groups and nurture those relationships to ensure a continuing connection with them.

The CLC oversees 'Community Matters', the charitable giving scheme that runs throughout John Lewis & Partners shops nationwide.

There is also a similar scheme at your local Waitrose & Partners.

Throughout the year, there are three rounds of funding, each round addressing a different theme – from health and wellbeing to nature and the environment and anything in between.

Organisations eligible for 'Community Matters' include charities, schools and relevant community groups.

The main criteria are that your group's purpose must fit the theme, own a bank account in the name of your organisation and be relatively local to John Lewis.

The CLC provides support in whichever way will benefit community groups the most, either by product donation, volunteering time from John Lewis Partners, or financial support.

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Since joining the Partnership in June 2023, your local John Lewis CLC has worked with 45+ charities, schools and community groups in Kingston and surrounding areas.

John Lewis Kingston's CLC has worked with over 45 charities, schools, and community groups in Kingston and surrounding areas (Credit: John Lewis)

This has taken the form of financial donations through John Lewis' Community Matters scheme, organising ex-display and NSV stock donations, kitchen unit and furniture donations, charity event promotion and volunteering.

Using her years of experience in digital marketing and IT, your local CLC has designed posters for local charity events and provided digital training to charities and community groups which had no in-house digital resource or expertise.

A huge advocate of networking and collaboration, she has met and connected several charities resulting in mutual gain and support for all concerned.

Indeed, your CLC hopes to run a networking event in the near future at John Lewis Kingston for local charities to connect with each other and find out firsthand how John Lewis can help support local causes.

By employing a Community Liaison Coordinator, John Lewis Kingston aims to build a deeper understanding of local charities' missions and needs, so it can work together with locals to create more meaningful long-term impact in the local community.

John Lewis Kingston is one of our lovely sponsors.

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Without their community-minded sponsorship, we wouldn't be able to bring you local news free from overly-intrusive ads, pop-ups and clickbait.