Community investment

Our community investment projects are focused on two areas – promoting education and environmental sustainability. We believe in working with experts and partner only with not-for-profit organisations with proven track record in the areas in which they operate.

HSBC India Corporate Sustainability Impact Report - 2021 (48-page PDF 3.1MB)

Promoting Education

HSBC has a long history of supporting projects in India in the areas of skills development, remedial education, civic literacy and financial literacy. In 2015, these projects benefited over 54,000 children, young people and women across the states of Karnataka, Maharashtra, Manipur, Rajasthan and Telangana.

From 2016 onwards, all our community investments in education fall under the umbrella of our flagship HSBC Skills for Life Programme. Launched in 2015, the five-year, INR1 billion programme focuses on three areas:

• Employment linked skills development – young people will learn skills that can help them earn a sustainable livelihood, with a focus on the requirements of local industries

• Enhancing the skills of teachers and educators – activities will include training teachers and educators to enhance the quality of teaching and improve the experience for learners, as well as digitising and translating teaching materials

• Entrepreneurship development and financial education for women – helping disadvantaged women in rural and urban communities develop the skills they need to build a business and manage money

Environmental Sustainability

We support projects on water conservation, safe water and sanitation, hygiene and sanitation education and environmental awareness. In 2015, these projects benefited more than 51,300 people across urban and rural areas in 4 states of the country – Maharashtra, New Delhi, Rajasthan and West Bengal.

HSBC Volunteers

HSBC employees also offer their time and skills to support community partners in areas such as technology, marketing, communication and financial management. We are proud to see the level of volunteering amongst HSBC staff. HSBC Group in India contributed more than 100,000 volunteering hours in 2016.

Key volunteering initiatives include:

Volunteering Action Fortnight is an annual initiative where employees from all branches and offices in India participate in various activities. These are across causes from cleanliness drives to tree plantation, house building, supporting the elderly, creating study material, conducting environment awareness drives in schools, toy and blanket collection drives and blood donation camps.

In its 16 years Helping Hands Mela has brought over 100 NGOs annually in HSBC’s premises across the country to display and sell a variety of products. During a one-week period, HSBC branches invite local NGOs to come to the branch to display and sell their products, benefitting projects in areas such as child welfare and rural development.

At this one-week on site volunteering initiative, employees from HSBC work in the community in Kemri village, Udaipur. Volunteers engage in activities related to reforestation, fresh water conservation, community awareness and education and biodiversity surveys.

This flagship fundraiser for Oxfam India involves a 100 km/50 km trailwalk for 48/24 hours by teams of four. HSBC India has been recognised by Oxfam India for 3 consecutive years (2014 to 2016) for fielding the highest number of corporate teams at the Mumbai trailwalk.