£ 35k We contributed £ 35,628 worth of time and hard cash in 2008 to community volunteer challenges 191 days of volunteer work in local schools and for community groups were completed by our people in 2008 Team Manchester ( 10 volunteers) Revived a playground and youth centre with Manchester Young Lives Team Winnersh ( 9 volunteers) Completed conservation work at Dinton Pastures Team Newcastle ( 5 volunteers) Painted a 20ft high concrete wall a lovely shade of terracotta at Hadrian School Team Newcastle ( 17 volunteers) Rejuvenated a wildlife centre at Pets Corner Team Newcastle ( 12 volunteers) Planted 600 trees at a nature reserve with Northumberland Wildlife Trust Team Newcastle ( 7 volunteers) Brightened up some horses bedrooms with Kids Kabin at Stepney Bank Stables Team Newcastle ( 8 volunteers) Refreshed a performance hall at The Venue Team Manchester ( 9 volunteers) Repaired and cleared woodland at Kersal Dale Team R& D ( 18 volunteers) Stripped back and replanted a flower bed at Exhibition Park Team HR ( 26 volunteers) Transformed the outside of a building and grassed area at The Venue Team Newcastle ( 6 volunteers) Cleared an area for an organic vegetable patch with Mencap at Dilston College Team Newcastle ( 14 volunteers) Created a pond from a flowerbed with Tyneside Cyrenians Team Winnersh ( 8 volunteers) Lightened up offices with a soft cobalt blue with Daisy's Dream We're pretty serious about this stuff. It's a cornerstone of our CSR, and so we thought each of our teams deserved a mention for the work they've volunteered for in 2008: Sage CSR Report 08 - Community25 " The Sage volunteers have been great over the last three visits. It's helped make The Venue that little bit more pleasant and allowed us to concentrate on working with our users while they also had fun interacting with the volunteers." Adam from The Venue " Please pass on our grateful thanks to the Sage team. We hope to get some ducklings to keep the hens company soon! It makes a huge difference to our projects involving local business in our work." Val from Tyneside Cyrenians " You never know how much a voluntary group will achieve. This group most definitely came with the intention of getting on and finishing all of the tasks allocated to them, which is brilliant. Well done everyone ." Sarah from Pets Corner

26Sage CSR Report 08 - Community Donating to charity is a fairly standard responsibility for any business. To us however, there's a lot more to giving than simply issuing giant sized cheques. Which charities do we support? They're all worthy, so our people make that decision. From large national charities, to small local ones and community appeals, we cover all angles. With technology close to our hearts, we're also naturally supportive of projects related to software and IT. Over the years we've built relationships making it possible for our people and their families, to benefit from the work of the charities we support. Working with the charities themselves and the people who nominate them, helps us understand how to make our time and money go further. Here you can get an insight into our approach and our awards to others. Charitable contributions Generous gestures Get the donation tubs out - it's Easter, Christmas or just Monday again. Our people regularly support local appeals and charities through all manner of donations. This year they donated 326 Easter Eggs, 200 Christmas presents for kids, bucket loads of goodies for cat and dog shelters and even held strawberry teas to celebrate the end of Wimbledon and raise a few pounds for Marie Curie Cancer Care. They're a creative bunch, so next year expect more of the same plus a splash of one- off genius and a few extra ideas to bring in the bounty for even more great causes. Helping you help others We're constantly surprised by the things our people put themselves up for in the name of others. But we love passion, so if they want to climb Kilimanjaro wearing a scuba diving outfit and pulling a sleigh to raise funds and awareness for their chosen charity, then they can apply for personal sponsorship from us and they just never know… Richard and Russell did just that, we gave them a few days off and some expenses and they walked the 84 miles of Hadrian's Wall, raising over £ 1,000 for Marie Curie Cancer Care. Michelle and Graham travelled a bit further ( to Tanzania) to renovate a nursery and build a playground. Just two examples from this year of how we've been able to help our people help others with a touch of finance and some time away from the office. £ 215k Through contributions of time and money we donated £ 215,000 to charitable causes in 2008