Covid-19 has changed communities across the world, social and economic opportunities were devastated for many. This, coupled with a growing global social consciousness has resulted in a seismic shift on the focus that our stakeholders, customers, partners and staff place on positive social value, sustainability and corporate social responsibility activities.
gbpartnerships recognise that as a company our actions impact our employees, customers, suppliers, the communities in which we live and work and the environment. Now, more than ever, we want to make sure that we have a long-term approach to social value creation and that the potential we hold as a company is understood and directed into the areas in which we work.
There are a number of different ways we can measure the social value of our work, but what really matters is that it is done effectively. Which is why, last year, we started to work with the Social Value Portal to independently evaluate our social value impact. By introducing specific metrics, we can quantify the social value generated by our work and demonstrate tangible benefits to the environment and local community.
The Social Value Portal uses the National Themes, Outcomes and Measures (TOMs ) – a framework for delivering excellence in measuring and reporting social value. The National TOMs is a framework to evidence delivery of the Social Value Act and has evolved into a social value measurement standard across the UK. The TOMs are built around 5 key themes, supported by a number of outcomes and specific measures. They centre around:
promoting jobs and skills
supporting regional growth
empowering communities
protecting the environment
promoting social innovation.
When we started out on this journey last year, I was quietly confident that gbp’s long term focus on working in partnership to make a positive impact in the communities in which we work would demonstrate some positive results. I wasn’t disappointed.
Our frameworks and initiatives truly have made a difference at national, regional and local levels. For example, our collaboration with the Sea Cadets has given young people in Liverpool, London and Birmingham opportunities they otherwise would not have had. The focus on apprenticeships has been a win-win initiative for us, also there has been support for our people to volunteer in their local communities. Our carbon reduction programmes include an EV car scheme and funding through the gbpartnerships foundation for a wide range of community groups.
A total of £3.4m of Social and Local Economic Value (SLEV) has been gained during the last financial year equating to 42.5% Social and Local Economic Value Add.
Our 2021-22 Social Value report provides an overview of the progress we're making across the gbpartnerships group of companies to ensure that the impact is positive and lasting. Explore the report to find out how we’ve been getting on:
I look forward to working with our passionate staff team and supply chain to build on these results over the coming year. We are also building our internal capacity and skills to that we can continue to add value and increase the support that we can offer our NHS and Local Authority clients to progress with their social value and sustainability work. If you’d like to find out more about how we can help you, please get in touch with a member of the team, we'd be delighted to hear from you. Paul Ferry
gbpartnerships group chair
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