With long-established roots in our local communities where we are often a major employer, Smiths businesses take an active role in the community, in schools, universities, hospitals and through charitable projects. These are often small but significant interventions involving people's time, rather than large corporate donations.

Smiths also supports national and international charitable organisations from a central budget administered by the Charity and Donations Committee, and, in 2006, donated £745,000 for charitable purposes. Other donations were made by our businesses around the world to various charities.

Here are just some of the examples of how Smiths people get involved in their local communities around the world.

Health
Health is a priority for Smiths, with our commitment to making the world healthier through products and services, not least through Smiths Medical. Beyond that we aim to participate in initiatives and schemes with wider public health objectives. Just after the end of this financial year, Smiths Medical donated airway management and pain management devices to the World Health Organization valued at £150,000.

Supporting developments in anaesthesia
Smiths Medical has had a relationship with Great Ormond Street Hospital and University College London (UCL) for over 15 years, donating funds totalling several million pounds. Now we have extended this commitment with the foundation of the Smiths Medical Chair of Anaesthesia and Critical Care at UCL contributing £150,000 a year.

Professor Monty Mythen, who sits on the Smiths Medical advisory panel, is the first to hold the Chair. He conducts important research to improve healthcare in the UK and worldwide. His team researches the medical implications of extreme conditions such as natural disasters and those experienced on expeditions.

Site spotlight
Cookeville, Tennessee, USA
Our Tutco facility has been running various employee well-being campaigns this year, including a 'Stop Smoking' programme and a 'Biggest Loser' weight-loss programme. Tutco also ran a 'Wellness Fair' in September offering health screening for employees.

Toronto, Canada
Smiths Detection Toronto supports many health-related causes including Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Peel Sick Kids Foundation Toronto, the Heart and Stroke Foundation, Dances for Cancer and Juvenile Diabetes Research. Toronto also supports other good causes including Peel Children's Aid Foundation, School Supplies for Kandahar, and the Dixie Neighborhood Centre.

Education
Education is vital for people to achieve their potential. Smiths supports a host of initiatives that provide educational opportunities.

Supporting Headstart and creating engineering bursaries
By engaging with education, companies can help schools, colleges and universities recruit good students into technical disciplines and then help those students to focus on the types of challenges they will face once employed in industry.

In the UK, the number of students entering engineering is declining. Those that do tend increasingly to be recruited from a small pool who have engineers in their families. The Royal Academy of Engineering is seeking to address this problem through its Headstart programme which encourages young people to study engineering at university. The programme seeks out able students studying maths and science at A-level and puts them through a summer residential course in engineering and science in a university department. Headstart is developing ways of reaching out to female students from varied backgrounds and minority ethnic students.

Smiths is backing Headstart by providing support for students identified as being capable of studying engineering at university but who face financial and social barriers. Initially we will provide support for 20 students, all of whom will be eligible to apply for one of five Smiths bursaries which will help fund them through university. The bursaries will be administered by The Royal Academy of Engineering.

Supporting the Industrial Trust
Our UK Aerospace business has for the last two years been a partner in the Open Industry project of the Industrial Trust. The aim of this project is to help students link their academic studies to the world of work while encouraging them to consider a career in industry. Reports from both students and teachers have shown how beneficial the scheme has been, and many who took part have reported an interest in working in industry. The added advantage of the scheme is that the companies who host the project have also learnt from the visits.

Supporting CREST
For the sixth successive year, Smiths Aerospace hosted the 17th annual Creativity in Science, Engineering and Technology (CREST) award celebration and Schools Technology awards, whose aim is to further the teaching of technology and encourage students to pursue an education in engineering. The competition gives students the opportunity to get involved in technology projects, develops teamworking skills, encourages problem solving and enhances students' communication skills.

Site spotlight
Slough, UK
John Crane has been an active partner in a range of educational activities including the Young Enterprise programme which helps students design and market new products, the Education Business Partnership Science and Technology event, and the Engineering Education Scheme programme run by the Royal Academy of Engineering.

Community initiatives
At a local level, Smiths supports a variety of community initiatives.

Supporting St Mungo's
A new initiative agreed for the year ahead will see Smiths establish a relationship with St Mungo's, a London-based charity that provides practical support for thousands of homeless and vulnerable people each year. The charity aims to enable disadvantaged and vulnerable people to lead full, independent lives by helping them find a place to live, develop their skills through education and training programmes and workshops, build positive relationships with other people, and improve their mental and physical health.

As well as housing, St Mungo's provides specialist help to address the complex physical and mental health problems that many of their most vulnerable clients face. This health care programme is expanding and St Mungo's aims to achieve consistent practice across all of its housing projects over the next two years by training 'health champions' to support its clients' medical needs, employing health support workers who will build strong relationships with local health authorities, and developing more in-house clinics in its hostels.

A donation from Smiths is enabling St Mungo's to provide training for all their staff on health issues as well as helping them improve access for their 1,700 residents to the health care services they need. This training will enable staff to recognise the symptoms of serious conditions and give them the advocacy skills and knowledge they need to help residents get decent health care from GPs, hospitals and statutory services. Training will also cover awareness of healthy eating, sexual health and access to exercise for all residents.

Site spotlight
Minden, Nevada, USA
Through the donation of used computer and office equipment, PolyPhaser supports Computer Corps, a local not-for-profit organisation that repairs computers and donates them to financially disadvantaged students in the community.

Toronto, Canada
Smiths Detection in Toronto contributes to 'Computers for Schools Ontario'. This programme involves donating working computers to schools within the Mississauga area.

Stuart, Florida, USA
Smiths employees from RF Labs and EMC met at the Hobe Sound National Wildlife Refuge to scour the beaches, dunes, and woods to pick up litter and debris left by the tide. The same employees donated US$500 which was then matched by the Group for a total donation of US$1,000 to benefit the Muscular Dystrophy Association.

Edgwood, Maryland, USA
Smiths Detection in Edgwood received the 'Harford Award' for their outstanding efforts in contributing to the community, the local economy and their employees.