December is all about Donations of Time for our National participating Framework partners of Procure Partnerships twelve ‘key monthly themes’. Our collaborative working group members have interpreted this however they thought was most beneficial to their locality.
These non-project specific social value outcomes have made a real positive impact for the month of December. However, this month’s theme has been taken on by not only the groups it was allocated to…but other contractors have got on board in the spirit of Christmas, going above and beyond!
The idea to open this out to other framework partners was sparked by Angie Eardley from Wates in the Northwest, who have rallied the troops! The following donations have been made as a result:
Ella and Emma from Wates Manchester team have been coordinating Donations for two charities over the last two months and will be distributing food and clothing.
The Charities are Stretford Foodbank and Little Lighthouse Baby Bank in Wythenshawe. With donations still coming in, wates plan to make their delivery closer to Christmas to maximise the support.
‘After hearing that Teenagers were going to Stretford foodbank, I decided that this was a cause we needed to support. Having teenagers myself has made me more determined to fill a huge box full of food and treats to help others. We’ll be sending it with lots of love and best wishes to all.’ Emma Bryan, Senior Secretary and Office Manager, Wates Construction Ltd
‘It’s been a brilliant experience to see everyone working together to support others. I’m so happy we are going to be able to support others at Christmastime.’ Ella Heathcote, Business Administration Apprentice
Additional help from the wider Wates team
Wates also held a low-key lunch time pool competition. Steve Wise asked each of the team taking part to contribute £10 each, so all in all the winnings would have been £80.
‘Well the winner took the pride, but our great team of people, contributed all of their winnings to the Stretford foodbank appeal.’
Steve then gathered the money together and placed an order for an Asda food voucher through the business payback scheme, meaning we got a voucher for £84. Egle and Ella took the time today to go to Asda at Trafford Park and then got a whole load of goodies and staple food that will go to families this Christmas who are experiencing hardship and need help feeding their families.
‘I just want to say thank you everyone, this is just another example of great team spirit in the name of charity. That HUGE box is very nearly full. Proud colleague !’ Emma Bryan, Senior Secretary and Office Manager, Wates Construction Ltd
This week Cheetham Hill are handing over a cheque to Lincoln City foodbank. They are also attending the NWCTG meeting where all member companies are handing over a Christmas present each to St Helens Young Carers.
Toys are also being collected for the Salvation Army Selby and North Manchester branches. Spending in the region of 20 hours sourcing and delivering the toys, with a total value of £1500.
Bethell’s Heather Byrne & colleagues volunteered for Wood Street Mission in Manchester; a charity who support disadvantaged families in the Manchester and Salford communities.
As part of their Christmas Appeal, they open the door to families to shop for Christmas presents for the kids to make sure their day is just as special.
Bethell staff spent the day helping parents pick presents and pack for them.
“Seeing the happiness on their faces as they left was just priceless.” Heather Byrne, Pre Construction Co-Ordinator, Bethell
The team at Seddon are volunteering at their local foodbank Urban Outreach in Bolton on numerous dates throughout December.
Henry Boot utilised the opportunity to work with The Archer Project in Sheffield. The Archer Project is a charity that supports and empowers the homeless and rootless community in Sheffield and provides them with food, care, comfort, company and skills to lead happy and fulfilled lives.
Henry Boot, Seddon and Wilmott Dixon collectively funded a Christmas lunch for their clients in Sheffield city centre. They also volunteered at the event to serve lunch to the clients and spend time with them over a lovely lunch.
Two members of the C R Reynolds team recently donated some of their time to Dove House Hospice to help them prepare for one of their Christmas charity events. Charities such as this do so much incredible work in their communities.
Galliford Try had a great time volunteering in Blackpool at the nearby youth club, The Boathouse prepping, painting walls and replacing ceiling tiles.
Conlon Construction have been busy donating time, money and logistics including:
• CCL £500 monetary donation to the Wood Street Mission
• CCL £500 of new toys for WSM
• CCL Van and driver for the collection of toys from offices in Manchester City Centre and deliver to WSM
• CCL voluntary hours at WSM to hand out toys to families.
• WMB (Electrical) £1000 of new toys for WSM
• WMB (Mechanical) £500 of new toys for WSM
• WMB Van and driver for the collection of toys from offices in Manchester City Centre and deliver to WSM
• DP Structures £500 monetary donation to the Wood Street Mission
• Nick Seed £500 monetary donation to the Wood Street Mission
• Anja Manke £250 monetary donation to the Wood Street Mission
• AMET Charity £2000 monetary donation to the Wood Street Mission, this was a partnership that WBM was able to establish last year.
Altogether the SV monetary and toy commitment value this year will be in the region of £5750 combined with voluntary hours for the collection, delivery and handing out of the toys at Wood Street Mission.
Phil Eves from BAM-Midlands has got on board with St Anne’s Hostel, Digbeth, who support Birmingham’s Homeless Men.
Previous funding to support the hostels Christmas lunch was cut, another knock on effect that COVID brought as demand for support locally increased.
Site Solutions arranged to collect hampers and other donations from Windsor Academy site and deliver to Newbegin Trust, then head off to Paradise and collect donations, before heading off to St Annes, before finally heading home to Wellingborough.
Multiple contractors have got on board such as GRJ (fire protection contractor) and Potteries (mechanical contractor) donating money towards the collections too.
This Christmas F Parkinson are supporting two charities:
1. Charity: Blackpool Food
Hours donated: 9
F Parkinson’s Site Manager, Gordon Buckley completed one day volunteering with Blackpool Food Bank where he helped pack food parcels for distribution by various charities. Acting as a drivers mate, he also collected food donations from various locations such as Warburtons, Lidl, Co-op and Tesco’s.
Gordon said “I was amazed at the generosity of the food retail companies. Everyone at the charities were so grateful of the donations. Today was definitely an eye opener for me.”
Donna Roberts, Volunteer Manager at Blackpool Food Bank said “I have spoken to one of my colleagues today to see how things went, and they tell me you did a brilliant job, your help was greatly appreciated. I hope you also enjoyed your time with us Gordon. Thank you once again from myself and everyone at Blackpool Food Bank.”
2. Charity: Mustard Tree, Manchester
Hours donated: 18 + items
Kier have been working with The Big Help Project – they aim to feed the hungry, overcome poverty with debt advice and affordable housing, and help people to a better future, based in Kirkby, Knowsley but their reach stretches across Liverpool City Region:
• Donation of 4 new TVs (summer 2022), distributed to local families in need
• Volunteering day when they moved warehouse location in summer – 18 hours
• Volunteering this week, and next, at their food storage warehouse, packing and sorting food going out for delivery – 21 hours
• From our Speke office we collect food donations all year round for The Big Help Project
John Sisk had a Donation of Time event at the Leeds Latitude Purple Project including collection of toys for Kidz Klub Leeds disadvantaged children. With almost £5500.00 raised for toys for this organisation
Willmott Dixon have been championing the following:
• Bolton Lions Toy Appeal (BCMS project team)
• Oldham Christmas Toy Appeal (Head office/ Spindles project team)
As well as ongoing collections for the local Oldham Foodbank.
Whitfield and Brown’s offerings consisted of dry food, cereals, rice, pasta, tinned sauces, vegetables and soups, long life milk, chocolate, sanitary products and toiletries to help families in need. All the products requested on the foodbank website and donated to Widnes foodbank.
Illingworth & Gregory – Principal Contractors Illingworth & Gregory In addition to all of the donations of time, food collections and logistics, I&G led on a fantastic initiative including work experience and a house build masterclass. Joined by Tilbury Douglas at Wakefield College Wakefield City in support of young persons engagement in construction
Work Experience Week – Presley Kitching from Wakefield College is currently finishing a HNC Level 4 in the Built Environment. The Work Experience week was designed as a week program to give Presley the opportunity to complete real industry tasks from procurement stage (office based) through to a completed scheme (site based).
In the office, he was able to shadow the estimating department on the procurement of jobs and the everyday tasks required for submitting a tender. I&G also explored the everyday tasks the H&S role, technical support, and contract management.
At site, they visited two completed projects at Leeds Teaching Hospital, and Rotherham General Hospital.
From there they could see the finished project and the work required from office (viewing from tender and construction drawings) and see how it translated into the finished project. From there they explored the role of project and site management, their day to day activities and their input into construction. We also explored the quality deliverables that were agreed at tender stage, and how we put those deliverables into practice.
We explored the various job roles within the construction sector whilst exploring the skills required for each role and how to effectively narrate and personalise a CV, cover letter and interview skills for prep in real life.
House Building Masterclass – Christopher Carline (managing director – I&G) delivered a house build masterclass to HNC and T- Level Students at Wakefield College. The Workshop consisted of an introduction of construction contracting form RIBA Stage 0 to 7 – as well as the various roles of students career and how they are involved in house building. The masterclass covered the stages of getting a house built, with models and pictures of each stage within the presentation, identifying areas of potential delays and how each role within this scheme has a role to play in the outcome of the project
Tilbury Douglas, Melanie Shaw, joined I&G for the presentation to the students who joined us over the work experience week, presenting students with £100 voucher/gift for completion of the work experience week, and to kit the students out with interview clothes to be ready for starting their career within the industry.
SOCIAL VALUE ADD
A collective £15.14K Social Value Add has been generated as a minimum as a result of December activities that are non-project specific from sub-groups of Contractors across our national framework.
Learn More About Our Social Value Offering Here
Faye Dolan, an esteemed professional and Framework Director at Procure Partnerships, boasts a rich and diverse career spanning seven years in the construction industry. Faye’s journey within Procure Partnerships began in 2018 as a Key Account Manager, initially overseeing the North West region and later extending her purview to the entire North.
