Cheshire Connect has enabled a skills sharing partnership between Siemens and a young people’s mental health charity.

Staff from the global engineering giant’s Congleton base have been volunteering to help Visyon with process mapping, procedures and IT support as well as helping to paint consulting rooms and the reception area.

In return, Visyon contributed new ideas to Siemens’ employee wellbeing programme.

Visyon, also based in Congleton, offers services for children and young people with mental health problems including one-to-one therapy, therapeutic group work, family support work, and creative activities.

Sandi Marshall, Business Development Manager at Visyon, said: “The support has been fantastic. The IT skills will improve our efficiency by reducing the staff hours wasted on IT reporting and data management.

“As well as helping us to upskill our staff in Excel so that we can create and modify automatic reporting as our needs change and develop, Siemens is looking at developing a database for funders which should help us to monitor and develop funder relationships more efficiently.”

She added: “The employees also have the skills to help us become IG3 compliant – the data governance baseline for NHS commissioning – which will open up new funding avenues for us.

“Process mapping has improved efficiency which will translate to more effective room and appointment booking enabling us to reach more of our service users.”

Michaela Lawton, Business Excellence Champion at Siemens, said: “Skills exchange via Cheshire Connect has provided popular opportunities for employees to volunteer their time and skills with local charities that they feel passionate about and are close to their hearts and the communities they live in.

“Our work with the local charity Visyon, is a great success and has close synergies to Siemens Wellbeing Program that supports the physical and emotional health of our employees.”

Cheshire Connect match charities with businesses enabling businesses to donate volunteer time in order to create mutually beneficial partnerships. More information on how to get involved with Cheshire Connect can be found online at www.cheshireconnect.org