In brief: Nearly 50 Standard Chartered Jersey employees cleaned three Island beaches during September, removing around 60kg of non-biodegradable waste. The effort forms part of the bank’s Global Employee Volunteering Programme, which marks its 20th anniversary this year.
Bags of Goodwill on Jersey’s Shores
Forty-nine employees from Standard Chartered Jersey rolled up their sleeves and headed to the coast during September, taking part in a series of beach cleans across Ouaisné, La Pulente and Long Beach. Channel Eye reports that each clean filled several bags of non-biodegradable waste, with the combined haul totalling around 60kg of rubbish removed from the Island’s coastline.
It is the kind of initiative that is easy to dismiss as corporate box-ticking, but the numbers here are hard to argue with. Sixty kilograms of waste that would otherwise have sat on some of Jersey’s most beloved beaches is now gone, and that is a straightforwardly good thing for residents, visitors and the wildlife that calls those stretches of sand home.
A Bank That Puts Its Money Where Its Wellies Are
The beach cleans sit within Standard Chartered’s Global Employee Volunteering Programme, which actively encourages staff to take part in charitable activities that benefit their local communities. The bank gives each colleague three days of paid volunteering leave per year, a policy that clearly pays dividends in community goodwill as much as in staff morale.
This year carries particular significance: 2026 marks 20 years of employee volunteering at Standard Chartered. Henry Baye, CEO of Standard Chartered Jersey, noted the milestone, saying the initiative reflects “the values we aspire to as a Bank” and provides “an opportunity to support our community, strengthen our connections with one another and make a tangible difference outside of our day-to-day roles.”
Baye also highlighted the bank’s broader volunteering record, pointing out that last year around three-quarters of Standard Chartered’s Jersey colleagues participated in volunteering activities. That is a striking proportion by any measure, and a genuine indicator of institutional commitment rather than mere lip service.
Building on Previous Years
The 2026 beach cleans build on earlier years in which Standard Chartered supported local charity-led beach clean initiatives around the Island. This year, however, the bank organised the effort directly, giving employees a hands-on stake in the outcome and a closer connection to the specific beaches being cleaned.
For Jersey residents, the three beaches chosen will need no introduction. Ouaisné, La Pulente and Long Beach are popular spots that attract walkers, swimmers and families throughout the year. Keeping them free of litter is a task that falls, in practice, on whoever is willing to do it, and it is encouraging to see a major financial institution stepping up alongside the volunteers and community groups who typically carry that load.
Source: Channel Eye
