FirstGroup employees give almost £5,000 to charity

Staff at transport operator FirstGroup have raised nearly £5,000 for the charity Save the Children through one of the firm’s employee share schemes.

FirstGroup employees donated a total of £4,765.96 to Save the Children through its save-as-you-earn (SAYE) share save scheme. Last year FirstGroup offered employees the opportunity to give any left-over funds from their SAYE scheme maturity to the charity.

FirstGroup’s reward and pensions director, John Chilman, said: “When staff buy shares in our SAYE scheme there is normally a small amount of money left over. This is less than the cost of buying one share and is typically quite a small amount. Employees are given the option of having this money returned or passed to First’s national charity partner, Save the Children.

“The SAYE charity option is a terrific, innovative example of how collectively the small change from First employees can make a big difference to children in the UK that need it most.”

FirstGroup’s SAYE share save scheme has been available to all UK employees since 2002. Members of the scheme save for a fixed three-year term and receive a tax-free bonus.

At the end of that period members are offered the opportunity to buy shares in FirstGroup at the market price at the beginning of the savings period. In addition those shares are discounted by 20%. Members also have the option after the three-year period to collect their savings and the tax-free bonus in cash instead of purchasing shares.

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