Phoenix Group (Standard Life)

Phoenix’s partnership with Samaritans, the charity that is there for anyone struggling to cope, reflects the focus of Phoenix colleagues on looking after themselves, each other, their customers and their desire to support their local communities.

In partnering with Samaritans, Phoenix Group is helping to ensure that the charity can continue to provide emotional support 24/7.

Since the partnership began in April 2021, Phoenix Group has raised an incredible amount of more than £850,000, the equivalent of 170,000 potentially life-saving calls for help.

Christmas time can be a challenging time for many and last year Samaritans responded to almost 250,000 calls for help over the festive period. This Winter 2023/24, Standard Life, part of Phoenix Group, have made a generous corporate donation and given in kind support by co-funding a new TV advert and gifting media airtime in the week leading up to Christmas. The advert serves as a reminder to anyone who is struggling that Samaritans volunteers are always there to listen and encourages the public to join Standard Life in supporting Samaritans through public donations.

London to Paris bike ride

Thirty-one inspiring colleagues and partners from Phoenix Group, completed the mammoth journey by bike from London to Paris, raising £60,000 in funds for Samaritans. Fifteen cyclists completed the first leg of the ride from London to Brighton, with sixteen cycling the full distance to Paris.

Lord Mayors Show

On Saturday 12 November 2022, Phoenix Group’s Chairman, Nicholas Lyons, who is the Lord Mayor for the year, invited Samaritans volunteers to join the group's float at the Lord Mayors show, to help celebrate an incredible partnership.

Everyone had a role to play on the float which consisted of giant inflatable dandelions, seed pods, and Samaritans and Phoenix Group feather back packs.

The dandelion float was designed to represent a clock, which ties in with Samaritans volunteers being available 24/7, and also had sustainability at its heart, with volunteers walking and cycling the route.

The float also received coverage on BBC One, with coverage of the parade normally attracting around 2 millions viewers.

In 2022 Phoenix Group’s brand Standard Life became a founding partner of Samaritans Training School.

Standard Life’s generous donation will allow us to train approximately 400 more listening volunteers through the school, helping us to ensure there is always somewhere there to listen – now and into the future.

Sharing time and skills is also a key part of the charity partnership, to ensure everyone is listened to when they face challenging times. As part of this, Standard Life teams have attended Samaritans Training and Engagement Programmes (STEP) courses.

In July 2023 Phoenix Group, Cowry Consulting and Can Studios also won the Most Innovative Agency Partner category at the Awards for Innovation and Transformation at the Financial Services Forum for a Listening Wheel E-Learning module, which was created in collaboration with Samaritans.

The training was created to support and celebrate Phoenix Group’s commitment to listening to customers, responding with empathy and caring in the moments that matter. It equips their colleagues with the skills to become better listeners, based on 70 years of Samaritans’ expertise in training.

It’s thanks to Phoenix Group and all of their amazing colleagues that Samaritans can continue to be there for people facing tough times. Thank you Phoenix Group!