Our Corporate Responsibility

Helping our local community

In 2009 we became a ‘Corporate Friend’ of The Forest School. We made a commitment to support our local school with their ‘Enterprise Days’, work experience weeks and their Annual Schools Green Conference. We also supported other local schools with ‘World of Work’ days, mock interviews and work experience opportunities.Our community activity provides an excellent opportunity to mix with others in our company that perhaps we don’t see on a day to day basis. This strengthens the relationships with our colleagues and helps create a more positive working culture. This is particularly true of community days and fundraising initiatives, which have a good teamwork element.

By taking work experience students or assisting schools with enterprise initiatives we have also given the opportunity for staff to develop new skills. A member of staff who helped year eleven students with interview techniques said ‘This was beneficial for me to practice interviewing people and to get an idea of how different questions were interpreted.’

The chairman of Governors at The Forest School wrote at the end of 2009, “I write to say thank you on behalf of the Governors of Forest School for all of the support and assistance your company gives the staff and pupils at ‘Forest’. As I am sure you are aware we are a school of approximately 1100 boys aged 11-16 with an Engineering and Business Enterprise Speciality, which could not be achieved without the engagement of community partners”.

We particularly enjoy helping others using our professional expertise. In 2009 this included setting up energy projects and providing heath and safety advice. We also carried out a DDA audit at one of community partners, the Springboard Project.

We continue to donate to charities and through various initiatives have raised nearly £3000 for local and national organisations.

Improvements for next year:

• To take a summer student for work experience for a specific project
• Help provide training for student Environmental Health Practitioners
• Provide professional help to one or two local organisations
• Expand volunteering to other local schools, particularly 6th form

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