Across the UK, bp colleagues are using their time and expertise to support the causes they care about. In 2025, employees volunteered 39,552 hours and donated over £1 million to charitable causes, including matched funding from the bp Foundation. Here are the stories of three bp volunteers.
Mentoring the next generation of engineers
Kabir Raheem is a long-standing volunteer mentor supporting engineering students and graduates from ethnically minoritized backgrounds across the UK.
Alongside his role at bp as a health, safety, environment and community manager, Kabir mentors early career engineers as they make the transition from academia into industry. Through mentoring, he helps individuals to build confidence, understand the professional environment, and develop practical skills that support long-term career progression, including professional accreditation and industry engagement.
Kabir has volunteered throughout his career and continues to do so with organizations such as the Royal Academy of Engineering and the Institute of Corrosion (ICorr). His work reflects bp’s support of employee volunteering, including for initiatives that aid skills development, promote inclusion, and help to build the next generation of STEM talent.
Kabir says: “I quickly discovered how genuinely rewarding it is to help others achieve their goals, whether that’s through guidance, signposting resources, or simply listening. Volunteering is something I’ve wanted to continue throughout my career, and it’s wonderful that bp actively encourages employees to get involved.”
Contributing to food redistribution
For Kathryn Smith, volunteering has been a long-standing personal commitment. It’s something that motivates her, connects her to her community, and shapes the way she shows up at bp.
Kathryn is a team assistant in bp’s treasury team and returned to the company in 2024, having previously spent around a decade at bp earlier in her career. She brings strong experience of volunteering and continues to champion volunteering at bp, encouraging colleagues to get involved and supporting initiatives that make a tangible difference.
In 2025, Kathryn volunteered with The Felix Project, a charity tackling food waste and food poverty by collecting surplus food and redistributing it to food banks, charities, schools and community programmes across London. The food is fresh and nutritious, helping people who may struggle to access regular, healthy meals. In 2025, The charity delivered 44 million meals a year to some of London’s vulnerable children and their families.
Kathryn’s involvement reflects bp’s wider partnership with The Felix Project. Since 2022, bp has provided funding and strategic support to help the charity extend its reach. Following the 2026 merger of The Felix Project and FareShare – forming a new organization that brings together decades of food redistribution experience – bp continues to support Felix’s expanded mission of distributing food across the UK through a multi-year partnership. Employee volunteering is an important part of this partnership, with colleagues like Kathryn contributing to Felix’s work on the ground.
In 2024, Kathryn also organized a treasury volunteering day at a local farm, where colleagues helped to care for animals and restock the warehouse, supporting the farm while bringing the team together around a shared sense of purpose.
Kathryn says: “I’ve always found volunteering incredibly rewarding, and it’s something I’m proud to champion here at bp. I was particularly drawn to Felix because the impact of their work is so immediate and visible. Knowing that surplus food can be turned into meals for people in the community is incredibly meaningful, and it gives me a valuable sense of perspective beyond my day-to-day work.”
Supporting river restoration
Jemma Kerr studied zoology at the University of Aberdeen, and her commitment to the natural world has remained throughout her six years with bp, where she is now senior environmental & social advisor supporting wells in the North Sea. In her role as North Sea biodiversity subject matter expert (SME), Jemma works closely with the River Dee Trust, an organization for which bp is a River Dee Guardian and a sponsor of the Save the Spring project.
Jemma has worked on a range of Save the Spring projects, including DNA sampling and helping to collect and measure salmon smolts from smolt traps.
Jemma is also responsible for setting up volunteer events for bp staff with the River Dee Trust, including eDNA sampling days, tree planting events at sites along the Rivers Dee and Muick, invasive species team events supporting the removal of the invasive Himalayan balsam plants along the River Dee, and the removal of plastic tree tubing from restored sites.
Jemma has also supported the NE Birdbox Initiative and provided biodiversity STEM support at Offshore Europe and at local secondary school events.
Jemma’s passion for ecological restoration and rewilding is truly infectious, and we’re proud that bp has provided more than 600 hours of volunteer time to the River Dee Trust in the past three years with her support.
Jemma says: “Volunteering brings another dimension to my role here at bp. It allows me to learn new skills, build new friendships and support my local community, while bringing me real happiness and a sense of pride.”
