A group of female leaders from the business have given up their time to act as volunteer career guides to women in impoverished suburbs of Kampala, advising them on skills such as public speaking, leadership and scaling a company.

Working with the Kampala-based 92 Hands organisation, the Scotland-based women are devoting up to a year to the Us4Women programme which is dedicated to increasing and improving the social and economic strength of women in deprived communities.

Taking part by video link, the mentoring programme team are encouraging Ugandan women in their lives and careers, understanding what they see as their biggest challenges and sharing and celebrating success and progress.

Peter Vardy, group chief executive, said: “We are very proud to be able to facilitate this amazing programme, which is working hand-in-hand with local people on the ground in Uganda to help women live their lives with a sense of dignity, self-worth and respect.

“Eight of our people so far have paired themselves with a mentee and we are providing space free from noise and disturbance, as well as technical support, to give them time to be able to communicate effectively.”

Karyn Kennedy, head of marketing at the Peter Vardy Group, added: “Women account for around 60% of the world’s labour force yet earn only 10% of its income. Nearly 600 million women worldwide cannot read and write.

“We chose to collaborate with 92 Hands to make a small contribution to its work of enabling women to have control of their lives, to make their own decisions and to determine their own financial and economic choices.”

92 Hands was founded by two lifelong friends, Sam Lucas Lubyogo and Emmanuel Nsabaanye. They grew up in Kosovo, one of the biggest slums in Kampala, and embraced Christian principles to help transform lives in their community.

Peter Vardy Group, which has 12 franchise dealerships and two major CarStores, distributes 10% of group profits to good causes at home and abroad to improve the lives of vulnerable children and young people.

The group, which currently employs 980 people, works closely with other charities and non-profit organisations to offer support, education and care to communities which are most in need of them.