``
I'd like to thank Grass Roots for all their support and allowing me
the opportunity to realise my boyhood dream and train to become
a volunteer firefighter. The fire station is a central part of the village
community and it is great to be able to give something back.
''
Elton Dixon
corporate responsibility
l
our community
We have a history of sharing our professional expertise with
local schools. Central to the lives of our employees and their
children now, they're also vital as a source of talent for our
future. We design unique business education programmes
and encourage and enable employees to get involved in
their delivery.
Not that our employees need much encouragement! They
are very enthusiastic about the opportunities we offer them.
They are also personally committed to many other causes and
charities which we endeavour to support in whatever ways we
can. Here's what we've been doing to enrich the lives of local
people and build happier, healthier communities.
·
Supporting local sports: we support our local rugby,
football and cricket clubs, providing sponsorship of between
£3,000 and £10,000 a year for kit and equipment. In
recent years we have also rebuilt the Grass Roots football
stadium, taken cricket coaching into schools and enabled
the growth of thriving junior clubs in all three sports.
·
Working in partnership with schools: we offer work
experience placements to local school children every
year and operate a mentoring programme specifically
for Business Studies GCSE students which gives them
an insight into the business world. At the request of a
consortium of junior schools, we devised a programme
to help children develop key attributes critical to their
employability. Working in collaboration with Warwick
University, our Learning Team created the 3Es programme,
focusing on energy, esteem and enquiry, and took it in to
local schools. The first generation of children to
experience the programme have just moved from junior
to secondary school, where the programme will be
continued and developed further.
·
Supporting the performing arts: we own and fully
maintain the local theatre with an annual running cost of
over £65,000.
·
Funding facilities at local schools: in response to
requests from local schools we have donated prizes for
fetes, playground equipment and nature trails.
·
Contributing to local charities: as well as supporting
employees' individual fund-raising and volunteering
efforts, we also contribute to major charity events as a
company, most recently helping to raise £60,000 for the
Hospice of St. Francis. We have also signed up to the
`Connect Dacorum' initiative which enables local
businesses to play a role in helping local charities by going
further than just donating money. As part of this, we help
the Paradise Furniture and Training Project in Hemel
Hempstead which collects second hand furniture,
redistributes it among the local community and provides
training and volunteering opportunities for ex-offenders
and people recovering from mental illness.
·
Sponsoring local initiatives: we sponsored an environmental
awareness initiative led by the Tring Chamber of Commerce
to reduce the use of plastic bags, and getting it underway
by giving every employee one of the campaign's Fairtrade
cotton shopping bags.
Valuable lessons
70% OF OUR EMPLOYEES
think we put
a lot back into the local community.
70%
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