Skills-based volunteering focuses on delivering short-term interventions with non-profit partners ranging from a few hours to a day at a time where our people can give your time and skills to make an impact. We are pleased to be able to offer this as one-off engagements or as a long-term shared value partnership.
Volunteering opportunities must be aligned with at least one of our social impact pillars and be led by non-profit organisations registered with the Charity Commission (including Charities and Trusts & Foundations) or led by schools, colleges, universities or other educational institutions.
We have a wide-ranging set of volunteering projects, ranging from expert workshops, inspiring talks, mentoring, event facilitation and leadership support. Examples of volunteering engagements include:
We're offering Opencast’s services for free to impact-led organisations, leveraging our expertise to support social causes or community needs. This initiative is designed to help these organisations break through tough challenges, innovate and boost their own impact.
Our support offers organisations user-centred design and digital and technology services through short-term pro bono engagements, ranging from a few days to a few weeks at a time. We are pleased to be able to offer longer-term partnerships as well as one-off engagements in this space. It is our intent to combine pro bono support with funding in the near future.
To qualify for this programme, organisations must be purpose-driven and non-profit making, which we define as:
We’re offering discounted rates to purpose-driven organisations who have need for services but face financial restrictions.
Our support offers organisations user-centred design and digital and technology services through a discounted rate card.
To qualify for this programme, organisations must be:
Examples of projects include:
Opencast is proud to have a charity match-funding pledge, meaning that we'll match every pound of the first £250 raised by our people for registered charities. This includes matching sponsorship for the Great North Run or other challenges.
Opencast's Give As You Earn scheme offers our people a chance to donate to a charity of their choice directly from their salary, in a tax-efficient way. Our payroll giving provides an easy way for Opencast people to donate to causes they care about.
Opencast commits to giving 2.5% of its net profits to non-profits every year. We do this through the Opencast Charitable Fund at the Community Foundation Tyne & Wear and Northumberland. Our people choose non-profits to support via a company-wide vote.
View the six non-profits we’re supporting with grants this year.
Read about the impact our donations made to non-profits last year here.
This initiative offers Opencast’s non-profits and community organisations the opportunity to use dedicated office space at our Headquarters in Hoults Yard, Newcastle, at no cost.
Many organisations have already used our Opencast spaces with great success over the last few years including non-profits, schools and start-ups. Open Spaces is about harnessing the power our brilliant building offers us to bring people together to create positive change.
Opencast supports science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) subject learning through in kind laptop donations to education settings. Working with IT services provider CMYK, Opencast were able to support schools with rehomed MacBook laptops.
In 2024, Opencast donated 12 MacBooks to Bill Quay Primary School, supporting a new community science and technology hub at the school.
In 2023, Opencast donated laptops to Wardley Primary School to support students competing in an international robotics competition.
We’re committed to improving our ability to deliver software and services to clients in a sustainable, environmentally friendly and carbon-aware way. We aim to be sustainable by default.
Read Adam Coles, Opencast’s Head of Sustainable Services, blog exploring sustainable digital services and why they matter.
As a technology consultancy, we are responsible for considering the whole life of IT equipment and devices. We refurbish and rehome laptops through in kind support to schools, working alongside our specialist IT partner CMYK. We also ensure old equipment that cannot be rehomed is responsibly separated into components, then recycled or disposed of.
Opencast are committed to becoming a Net Zero company by 2040. We will transform all aspects of our business operations to ensure we can accelerate meaningful sustainable change and align ourselves with the UN 2030 Decade of Action agenda.
Read our Carbon Reduction Plan and Carbon Reduction Targets developed to support this.
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