Mohammad Tengku Farish is picking out his school bag for the new year.

The 11-year-old is excited as such outings do not happen often. This one was made possible by Popular vouchers from Grant-A-Wish initiative. 

The project is the result of a partnership between Standard Chartered Bank (Singapore), Temasek Trust, the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF), and social service agency Awwa.

The initiative ran from October to December last year. The aim? To provide gifts to more than 500 children from less privileged background during the festive season.

Simon Cooper, chief executive of corporate, commercial and institutional banking and chief executive of Europe and Americas for StanChart, said: “While meeting basic needs is important, so is the social and emotional well-being of the children. Receiving a gift of their choice, coupled with a card and note of encouragement, may leave a lasting positive impact on these youngsters.”

The beneficiaries’ details were given by MSF’s ComLink networks and Awwa, while Temasek Shophouse and StanChart helped to grant the gifts requested.

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“The value of partnering with ComLink is that we are able to provide structured and long-term support for the family instead of help that is episodic,” explained MSF.

One of the challenges encountered in the programme was that there was no direct interaction between the volunteers from the bank and Temasek Shophouse, and the children. However, this did not deter them – there were still lessons to be gleaned from the initiative.

The StanChart volunteers bought gifts and wrote personalised cards for the children, based on short bios they had received about them. This included information about their hobbies and interests, enabling the volunteers to get to know the children better. 

“By getting items that the children wished for, I hope it is a reminder that there is always someone out there who truly cares for them,” said volunteer David Liew, executive director of cash product management at StanChart’s corporate, commercial and institutional banking.

Liew added that he enjoyed partaking in Grant-A-Wish with his daughter helping him out. “She joined me to shop and make a card for the child. It was a great opportunity to teach her empathy and be appreciative of what we have,” said Liew.

Farish, now sporting a new bag for the year, lives with his four siblings and parents in a two-room rental flat in Sengkang. His mother, full-time housewife Siti Zainab Bte Mohammad, said: “The presents mean a lot to our family, and they made my kids very happy. We really appreciate it a lot.”

Some beneficiaries of the Grant-A-Wish project were also involved in Awwa’s Family Empowerment Programme (FEP), which StanChart partnered with Temasek Trust to launch. 

From May 2022 to November 2023, Awwa will provide direct cash assistance on a monthly basis to help some 75 families meet their immediate needs. The agency hopes the funds will help families plan for the long term. 

“The FEP is an income stability pilot to test whether more stable financial assistance can help eligible Awwa beneficiaries improve their chances of emerging from chronic poverty, by allowing them the opportunity to goal-set and make financial decisions which are more meaningful towards achieving long-term employment, skills-training and education goals,” said Awwa.

The FEP is funded via a Pay-For-Success model. This ensures that the funds are used to achieve the best outcomes for beneficiaries and stimulate the private sector and community to work together. 

“Increasingly, we are seeing a rise in innovative philanthropic funding models such as Pay-For-Success which focus on impact outcomes and enable collaborative giving,” said Desmond Kuek, chief executive of Temasek Trust.

StanChart is the upfront funder. The bank donated US$560,000 to commence the first 18 months of the programme.

Only when there are positive outcomes does the outcome funder – in this case, Temasek Trust – kickstart a second tranche of an equivalent payment. The further funding will extend the length of the FEP, thereby allowing more families to benefit.

“Through FEP, we hope to inspire more of such innovative and outcomes-driven models, to tackle emerging community needs and foster new ways of public-private-people collaboration to sustain effective social innovation at scale,” said Kuek.

Likewise, Awwa chief executive JR Karthikeyan noted: “Partnering for-profit organisations in this journey also helps them to develop their own more impactful ways of contributing back to society.”

The FEP has so far had a positive impact on beneficiaries, who have been able to use the money for emergency funds, bills and additional support for home expenses and medication. It has also improved the beneficiaries’ mental health.

One beneficiary noted: “(The FEP) has given us more confidence in tackling our challenges. It makes me feel more assured and allows me time to plan my career to better support my son and myself, instead of worrying about how we can make ends meet.”

This article is part of a series on doing good for our community, supported by Standard Chartered Bank.