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Welcome to the spring edition of Better World magazine. As you can see, we have a new look incorporating the lets make a better world mark. In conversations with our stakeholders it became clear that Corporate Social Responsibility means very different things to different people. For some, its about how we treat our customers, for others its about how we manage our environmental impacts or how we give back to the communities in which we operate. Lets make a better world is essentially what were about and hopefully helps to illustrate that the heart of BTs work in the field extends far beyond the small team dedicated to managing and reporting on CSR.
Speaking of heart, the generosity of BT people was apparent following the Boxing Day tsunami as hundreds offered to cut short their Christmas holidays to man phones or help the relief effort. In this edition we take a closer look at how communications were able to help those affected by this terrible tragedy. The work of BT Volunteers is an essential part of activities such as charity fund-raising telethons and the work undertaken with the Disasters Emergency Committee. But BT Volunteers also play an active part in our communities, giving their time to help young people master the basics of good communication skills. We follow a team of our volunteers as they work with young people in Slough, Berkshire on a programme designed to help them tackle one of the most daunting of communications challenges the job interview. To tell or not to tell? Ask anyone involved in communicating CSR about their most daunting professional challenge and most will say its how and even if they should tell the world about the good things being achieved in CSR. Hide your organisation's light under a bushel and it becomes almost impossible to prove the value of the activity; but getting the message or tone wrong, risks making your organisation look pompous and self serving. Solitaire Townsend, Managing Director and co-founder of specialist CSR communications company Futerra, sheds some light on the intricacies of getting the message right. For the confident internet user, reading articles like this online, its easy to forget that for some, the prospect of using a computer is so frightening that they may never touch a keyboard. As the issue of Digital Exclusion makes its way up the political agenda, our final article asks whether it is indeed as serious as it is being made out to be . I hope you enjoy this latest issue and as always, wed really welcome your thoughts and comments. Youll find the email address at the bottom of the page. Adrian Hosford, director BT Group Corporate Responsibility
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