Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)
Last week was a busy week for E R Grove, with 2 very successful events taking place.
Firstly, we held an event with Lloyd’s Commercial Banking team to discuss the local economy and its regeneration. We were lucky enough to have Mark Davies of Chances Glass exclusively discuss a really interesting redevelopment project, which we could be bringing you more information about in the near future.
We sponsored our second event, which was very well organised by the Black Country Chamber. The corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) event set out to bring businesses and charities together in order to educate businesses on the ways that they can support charities and to get charities networking.
Charities are crying out for support and not just with finances, they are also in need of support with the general running of the organisation such as finding the right suppliers and training staff. For this reason, the event was free for all to attend, with a selection of charities given the opportunity to showcase what they can do.
The Chamber organised a number of speakers and activities that raised awareness whilst keeping us all entertained. The first speaker did exactly that as the Olympic athlete, Phil Brown, shared his journey to winning the silver medal in Los Angeles (1984) with Kriss Akabusi, Todd Bennett and Garry Cook. However, he was there to promote the Diamond Duke of Edinburgh award that I challenge you to take part in if you have always said “I wish I could have done the Duke of Edinburgh award scheme”. People of all ages can set themselves a target and take part – just visit their website.
Helga EdstrÖm from the Office for Civil Society and Innovation Local Cabinet Office did very well at following Phil with a speech on the skills council and corporate volunteering. Modern day employees often look to businesses that share their personal values. So, giving your staff the opportunity to volunteer could improve your chances of attracting the top talent.
Following Helga was Joe Maggs from the Walsall Housing Group who introduced us all to “Bingo with a twist”. We were all told to grab a bingo sheet and get talking to people – the winner was the person got around the room the quickest in order to mark off personal achievements of the other guests. If you are looking for a way to spice up your networking sessions, then I definitely recommend that you try it out!
Smack bang in the middle of the event came our speaker, Glyn Everett, to talk about Charities and their VAT implications. Glyn opened many ears, as VAT is a real cost to charities that can often lead to considerable savings with the right advice. If you would like any information on how you can save money on VAT or any other advice with regards to charity, then we will be delighted to talk to you.
Sara Ward from the clearly very successful, Sandwell Women’s Aid, followed Glyn with a history of the charity. Sara told us of how she had to more or less restructure the charity’s operations and values in order for it to survive. It’s great to see a local charity do so well for such an important cause that affects thousands of women every day – please go and check them out online.
Our final Speech came from Philippa Gregory from the Way Youth Zone. The Way Youth Zone is a great facility and they were kind enough to put us up for the event. Teenagers can take advantage of tonnes of sport clubs via the music room, media studio, outdoor pitches, climbing walls, fitness centre, basketball/badminton courts, pool tables and much more for just a joining fee of £5 and a payment of 50p each time they visit. Aren’t they lucky?
There was a lot of great feedback from the event and I am sure it will return next year. It just shows that if you get involved with your local chamber and make the most of your membership it can really work for you. Especially for micro and small businesses that struggle to find the right networking opportunities.
Both the charities and businesses had plenty of opportunities to get networking and learn about each other. If you missed the event and you are looking to introduce a CSR programme into your business, but don’t know where to start, then please get in contact with us and we can work with you to create something that incorporates your values.
