UOB also continues to invest in art education programmes to benefit young people who may otherwise not have an opportunity to be exposed to the arts. To this end, it has been supporting organisations such as Very Special Arts Singapore since 2007, the Little Arts Academy Singapore since 2009 and others include APSN Katong, AWWA School, Fei Yue Community, MINDS Towner Gardens School, Northlight School Visual Arts Programme and Pathlight School. These organisations give underprivileged children the opportunity to discover and develop their creative talent through education, early skills intervention and rehabilitation through art.

Such partnerships also provide opportunities for UOB’s employees to get involved as UOB Heartbeat volunteers. Its people regularly volunteer their time to help out at classes and workshops for nominated beneficiaries. Through the UOB Heartbeat art workshop series, volunteers share their love of painting, sculpting and mosaic-making with children who have special needs.

One of the ways in which UOB further extends its support in the communities in which it operates is through its annual UOB Heartbeat Run/Walk. In Singapore alone, more than 4,000 UOB employees, their families and customers participated in the 2014 Run/Walk and raised S$1 million over a period of six weeks. The money raised was channeled through to Community Chest beneficiaries. Under the Singapore government’s Care & Share Movement the amount raised by UOB was matched dollar-for-dollar by the Singapore government.

The UOB Heartbeat Programme is important to its people not only because of the opportunities it provides them to contribute to the community, but also because of the sense of belonging and shared purpose it creates among colleagues.