11 minute read

RAISING THE BAR

Next Article
SKILLS

SKILLS

Learning to learn online

Learning online

Advertisement

Whilst periods of lockdown and local restriction tiers are something we have all become accustomed to for almost a year, the closure of our school gates has been one of the most painful consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic , particularly for those students from disadvantaged backgrounds. Clearly, it is right to close our schools in order to protect the NHS and reduce the spread of the virus, however it leaves some children and families in a difficult position to home-educate, with schools again switching to online learning. The education partners we support have worked hard during these difficult times to ensure disadvantaged students and vulnerable families get the help they need.

By Cathy Prior Social Impact Programme Manager Provident Financial

National Literacy Trust

During the first lockdown, the National Literacy Trust were able to support over 300,000 children and young people with printed writing materials and books and over 500,000 with access to high quality digital literacy resources. Here at Provident, we were able to print and deliver resource packs to local foodbanks who then provided copies to digitally excluded families . This need has continued with each lockdown. We know that 1 in 11 children won’t have a book at home. Many families still can’t access online learning; 30% of low income households have bad or no broadband connection. Alongside this, it’s now well understood that lockdown impacts negatively on wellbeing, with the third lockdown expected to be particularly hard. To support literacy and wellbeing in disadvantaged communities during this lockdown, the charity continues to focus on three key areas: 1 Delivering high quality programme content for teachers through literacytrust.org.uk 2 Providing reading resources and activities for parents through wordsforlife.org.uk. 3 Giving digitally excluded children and young people printed resources to support their learning, distributed through their Hubs (including Bradford) and partnerships. Once again, we’ll be helping with the printing of packs to reach as many local Bradford families as possible. In addition, we’re working with the charity to find ways to support young people virtually through the Words for Work programme which provides them with the communication skills they’ll need for the workplace.

RAISING THE BAR

Social Mobility Business Partnership (SMBP)

During the summer, some of our colleagues played virtual hosts to Year 11 students in Bradford as part of a Work Insights Week organised by SMBP. SMBP is a charity which provides an innovative programme bringing together large corporate organisations and professional sports clubs to remove barriers, develop skills and provide experiences to sixth form and college students from disadvantaged backgrounds. The programme helps build aspirations and inspire them to pursue a career in a profession which they may not have previously considered. Usually our event is held in our Bradford head office, but due to school closures and lockdown restrictions the event was delivered online. Colleagues volunteered to deliver presentations and workshops on a range of legal and professional topics to inspire the young people who attended.

School-Home Support

There are many barriers that can prevent a child from getting to school in a morning. This can be because of personal struggles they may have, or perhaps financial, psychological or other challenges the parent or guardian may have. School-Home Support is a charity which places practitioners into schools across the country to work with children and families who need support the most. We provide funding for a practitioner at One In A Million Free School and there are several practitioners working in the Holme Wood area of Bradford. During lockdowns, the charity has seen demand for their services more than quadruple but have continued delivering vital support to families facing issues such as domestic violence and food poverty. They’ve also helped out with delivering digital devices to those without access and we were able to partner them up with National Literacy Trust to provide literacy resource packs to these families. In the lead-up to Christmas, our colleagues took part in a gift-giving appeal which meant that disadvantaged children across the UK woke up to gifts on Christmas morning. “As an SHS practitioner working in a secondary school in Bradford, I see how the added pressure of Christmas impacts the families I work with. Christmas isn’t always a happy time for families and even more so this year. I’m working with young people and their families who have had significant bereavements, parents who have lost their jobs due to the pandemic, living in poverty and suffering from poor mental health. These gifts will make a big difference and take away some of the pressures parents and carers feel around this time of the year.” – SHS practitioner. We’re continuing to work with all our partners through these difficult times and have been flexible with our funding to allow them to adapt the programmes to work for the less privileged young people and families they support."

RAISING THE BAR

Make a pledge to make a difference

What is your pledge?

In 2021, the Chamber is asking organisations to take part in its Raising the Bar Pledge Campaign. The campaign has been developed to encourage businesses to think about their social impact and the positive influence they have.

Make your commitment to managing your social impact by making a Pledge.

Pledges may relate to the community and environment, e.g. fundraising, volunteering, food bank donations or litter picking, or to the economy and environment e.g. using less paper, greener ways of working, offering professional skills free of charge or travel. All Pledges will be shared and promoted online to highlight the excellent work you and your business is doing, encouraging others to follow your lead.

What is Raising the Bar?

Raising the Bar is the social impact initiative run by West & North Yorkshire Chamber. It aims to measure, connect and celebrate the good deeds by businesses and their employees who do work to benefit their local Community, Education, Economy and Envirnoment.

Stories

We publish your activities and share on our website and social media.

Awards

Annual social impact awards.

Benchmarking

A measurement tool to measure your businesses social impact contributions.

Opportunities

Connecting organisations with people and resources.

Opportunities to get involved

Governors for acadamies

At Wellspring we believe that outstanding schools are built on the firm foundations of outstanding leadership, enabled by effective governance with robust oversight and assurance. We are currently looking for Governors for academies across North, South and West Yorkshire and welcome volunteers from a variety of backgrounds who can offer skills and experience in areas ranging from Safeguarding and SEND through to Health & Safety, IT and Finance. We can offer comprehensive support and guidance for anybody new to school Governance. If you want to work with, and – more importantly – contribute to a culture like this, we would love to hear from you.

Support diversity in Leeds

If your business is looking to form a partnership with a charity that supports diversity in Leeds, then Leeds Mencap would love to be considered. By partnering with Leeds Mencap, your business, your employees, suppliers and customers can play a vital role in helping children and young people with learning disabilities across Leeds find independence and learn new skills. The fundraising team at Leeds Mencap will put together a plan for you so that your team are engaged and motivated and work with you so that our partnership is recognised locally. They have loads of ideas of fundraising events, challenges or at work activities that you can get involved with.

Donate surplus IT equipment

A scheme has been launched by West Yorkshire Learning Providers (WYLP) to help young learners who are less able to access the digital equipment they needed to do well at school. WYLP are appealing for local businesses to consider donating surplus IT equipment to help young people. All donated equipment is being wiped clean to comply with data protection and other security regulation. Two collections hubs are currently available for dropping off equipment – the WYLP’s office at Bradford Chamber Business Park, BD4 8BX and the Kirkgate Centre in Bradford.

RAISING THE BAR CASE STUDIES

Tackling plastic pollution

1.8 tonnes of rubbish, comprising 809 Kg of plastic waste was removed from a 10-mile stretch of the Leeds & Liverpool Canal in one of the country’s biggest canal clean-ups. Almost 300 colleagues from Asda House took time out to make a difference and help tackle the plastic pollution crisis, supported by Canal & River Trust, the charity that looks after the historic waterway. Bicycles, traffic cones, spare tyres, safes, men’s underpants, shoes and even the inside of a fridge, were among the hundreds of items removed by volunteers, with many taking the opportunity to get afloat on the water by canoe and boat. Rubbish and plastic waste collected over five days by Asda and Canal & River Trust was taken to a nearby responsible waste disposal company in Leeds. Maltings Organic Treatment Ltd weighed the rubbish daily and the company also recycled the plastic items collected from the canal into a bench. Colleagues originally predicted that the amount of plastic collected throughout the week would be enough to make one bench, however the 809 Kgs found on the litter pick actually equates to nine whole benches.

Pro bono website helps save a family business

Intellistart® a marketing agency specialising in marketing services for professionals, businesses and start-ups, announced that after witnessing a tweet from a woman who appealed for the support of her father’s car repair business, took immediate action to provide support. Jim’s business had received its first enquiry through the website we created for them within days of making it live. Harley told Intellistart that Jim couldn’t believe it, that he kept saying “That’s going to be mine? That’s going to be my website?” and later informed us that BBC radio has been in contact and asked, “I hope you don’t mind me mentioning that Intellistart created a website for us for free?” This radio conversation ended up as an article on the BBC titled “I saved dad’s business with a single tweet” The tweet read: “This is my Dad. His car mechanic garage of 35+ years is in crisis due to the ongoing pandemic. If it keeps going this way, it isn’t likely it will survive.” Of the company’s recent support for small businesses, Intellistart Director Joel Cortez said: “It was a tweet that strung some chords, I don’t believe that there is enough support for businesses that are currently struggling by no fault of their own. I am happy that we can provide support even if it crosses country lines!” To provide this momentous support, Intellistart reached out to Harley Walsh and gained the approval of their plans: • After deciding, based on its corporate social responsibility, that the website, branding, and hosting works would greatly benefit the car mechanic garage. Intellistart waived all costs to Jim’s business. • By providing these services, Intellistart will be able to provide support and help keep a business from collapsing.

Supporting mental and physical wellbeing

As Covid-19 related mental health issues continue to spiral, a Batley based charity that offers free training sessions to help promote physical and mental wellbeing will benefit from the generosity of a Bradford Garden Centre’s customers and staff this year. Staff at Tong Garden Centre in Bradford have announced that ‘Luke’s Lads’ and sister charity, ‘Butterflies’ will be their Charity of the Year for 2021, following a unanimous staff vote. Through a series of fund-raising events and collection boxes at the tills, the team at Tong hopes to raise £10,000 for the charity that provides free circuit and support sessions to encourage young people and adults to talk about their feelings. Luke’s Lads was established in 2018 after local man Luke Naylor committed suicide following a battle with mental health and depression. It was set up by his best friend, Elliot Gorman and his mother, Rachel Walmsley with the support of Luke’s family: “Our aim for this group is to give people a safe place to express their feelings, get active and help promote physical and mental wellbeing. For someone like myself, who has experienced mental health issues, this is something I am committed to and passionate about.” “I hope that by sharing my experience, it will give at least one person the confidence, with support, to confront how they are feeling, not bottle things up and know that it’s OK not to be OK.” “Male suicide is the biggest killer of men under 45 in the UK, with many men suffering in silence when they experience feelings of sadness, loneliness or anxiety.

Helping turn a vision into reality

During lockdown, Rance Booth Smith Architects have been helping a local charity visualise the conversion of their Leyland Tiger bus into a hygiene and laundrette facility. The bus is currently having mechanical repairs and undergoing exterior refurbishment works prior to internal changes. Once complete, the project aims to provide showering and toilet facilities, offer a fresh pair of clothes and even deliver haircuts to the homeless population of Bradford. Small social and counselling spaces offer environments to help support the mental health and wellbeing needs of its users. The charity is looking to create a replicable strategy to develop a fleet of buses which could offer help and support to the whole region.

This article is from: