Marston Holdings Social Value Newsletter - Feb 2022

February 2022

S o c i a l Va l u e U p d a t e

Welcome to the February edition of the Social Value Newsletter where we continue to promote and celebrate the amazing work being done across our business.

Employee Survey

Have you completed your employee survey yet?

If not, there’s still time to have your say! You can access the survey via Connect, and via the Social Hub on CoreHR. The survey closed on Friday 4 March 2022 at 5:00pm.

Apprenticeship week

During Apprenticeship Week Sue Poulton, Apprenticeships Manager, hit the road on her Apprenticeship Roadshow where she visited Epping, London America Square, Helmshore and Oldham. The aim of the roadshow was to spread the word about the apprenticeship opportunities that are open to our colleagues and let managers know of the benefits of recruiting an apprentice into the business.

There were lots of people that came to speak to Sue throughout the week, with some even completing an Expression of Interest. Some of the types of apprenticeships where interest has been shown include IT Technology, Project Management, Team Leader/Supervisor, Customer Service and Credit Controller and Debt Collection Specialist.

Not only was Sue spreading the word about apprenticeships she was also raising money for MIND, and after a very successful tombola that ran throughout the week she raised £139.00. Well done and thank you to all who participated.

If you would like to donate to MIND charity, please visit website

Scan QR Code

Beam

We are now working with Beam who are a homeless social enterprise who work with people of no fix abode and long term unemployed and support them back in to work.

Beam offer a case worker to assist candidates with CV writing and interviews skills as well as providing support for three months post recruitment. Beam are working with 200+ people at any given time and our new partnership means that we can recruit from this pool of people who would otherwise be hard to reach.

This partnership will allow for us to recruit from exceptional and diverse talent which is currently under represented in today’s workforce.

An update from Nick Ruxton-Boyle, Environmental Director As you will have hopefully all heard through the latest message from the Chief Executive, we are excited to announce our commitment to reaching net zero by 2040 and halving our carbon footprint by 2030.

We are making amazing progress towards this and have achieved a 37% reduction in the last two years, we will be rolling out initiatives across our operations over this year and you will see some questions in the upcoming staff survey on your commuting habits that will help us understand the full carbon impacts of our business activity. With over a thousand vehicles in our fleet and over 150 locations in the UK this will not be an easy task but with your help I’m sure we will get there.

As part of our plans both Project Centre and newly acquired

Vortex brands are aiming to be net zero by 2030 and we hope that we can add more of our brands to this date in due course.

These submissions will then be used to add some real-life examples to our plans and show our clients and the public we serve that we are serious about climate action. We are particularly interested to hearing about any offsetting activities you may already be doing.

Nick recently signed up to a new milk round in his neighbourhood a few weeks ago who only use glass bottles and recyclable packaging. This initiative not only supports local farmer through responsible sourcing but also has a real impact on carbon reduction. So far, Nick has saved 10 plastic bottles (according to the farmers cool app) and his 4-year-old is loving their strawberry milk.

Stay tuned for more carbon news and if you are interested in your own carbon impact take UN lifestyle calculator.

Social Value Stories

Durham receives a big thank you from the City Council Last month we shared the story of how colleagues in Durham had been collecting donations for the County Durham Clothing Bank and Moving On, in County Durham, well their generosity has not gone unnoticed and Scott Wallace, Client Account Manager has shared the letter of thanks he received from Durham Council Chief Executive Officer and Cabinet Member for Equality and Inclusion, Who said ‘These funds were used to continue to provide support to residents over the Christmas period including helping to make sure they too were able to enjoy some festive treats. The generosity helped make a positive difference to these residents in County Durham at Christmas. We are extremely grateful you were still in a position to help, thank you again”. Well done to all involved!`

Old coats and new socks in Northern Ireland

The team in Northern Ireland are currently collecting donation for churches in the local area who are supporting housing charities.

With winter being a particularly difficult time for the homeless and those without adequate accommodation the team is focusing on donations of coats and socks which will be valuable to helping people keep warm. The first charity to receive a donation of coats and socks has been First Housing Aid and

Support Services

Upcycling used Christmas cards in Gloucestershire

The team in Gloucestershire have collected over 100 used Christmas cards to donate to Cobalt Health medical charity. The charity helps those affected by cancer, dementia and other conditions and provide diagnostic imaging for over 100,000 patients.

The charity has teamed up with Printwaste who will upcycle the used Christmas cards into new cards which will then be sold by the charity. Not only does this raise vital funds but also ensures that it is done in an environmentally friendly way.

The greetings cards are available via the charity’s website:

a look at the

Mental Health Training for Project Scotland

Local Trainer Ross Gallier has arranged to provide free Mental Health First Aid training to Project Scotland, a charity that supports young people between the ages of 16-30, providing them with the necessary life skills by arranging volunteering placements and providing ongoing one to one mentoring and support. Project Scotland’s aim is to help young people develop the confidence and skills to go on to employment, training, or education.

Ross said, “I am very much looking forward to helping out as much as I can”

Supporting the Central Covid Vaccination Centre in Manchester

The team in Manchester have been helping to support the vaccination centre by providing the on-street parking for the staff members, ensuring that they are able to park without issue and conduct their vital role.

This month the team also did their bit to help tackle period poverty, with donations equalling over £100 being made to local charities.

It is estimated that 1 in 7 women have experienced period poverty at some point in their lives. Visit Period Poverty to help reduce this number and put a stop to period poverty by finding out more about the cause, donating or getting ideas for fundraising initiatives. Their aim is to eliminate period poverty in the UKs most deprived communities by 2025.

The power of volunteering

Have you volunteered recently, or are you considering doing so?

Research suggests that volunteering can have a hugely positive impact on the volunteer. Whether your decision to volunteer is driven by the need of those around you or maybe the feel-good factor of doing good for others, the benefits are vast and include:

Gaining life skills - in a recent survey conducted by ‘Step Together’ 73% of employers said they regarded volunteering on a CV as favourably as a formal qualification Improving overall health - a study by Volunteering England concluded that engaging in volunteer work can increase longevity, improve mental health, and keep people fitter Making friends and expanding networks - volunteering can provide an opportunity to meet new people from different backgrounds and cultures who you may have otherwise not met.

Increasing happiness - researchers at the London School of Economics examined the relationship between volunteering and measures of happiness in adults and found the mote people volunteered the happier they were.

Save the dates

Need we say more, why not explore the volunteering opportunities in your area?

21 February to 6 March 2022 - ‘Choose the World You Want’ Festival

Fairtrade fortnight takes place online every year. This years’ festival is focussed on ‘choose the world you want’ and will return on 21 February and run for a fortnight.

The festival is designed to bring together the campaigners, shoppers, students, and businesses who show their support for the farmers behind the production of our food on the frontline of the climate change crisis.

Fairtrade is about helping farmers become more resilient to climate change, whilst at the same time giving consumers, retailers, and traders the opportunity to reduce their carbon footprint.

Fairtrade ensures that farmers, producers, and workers are paid a premium for their produce, the extra premium they are paid from the sales of Fairtrade certified crops and products can then be used on projects such as tree planting, irrigation, crop diversification and clean energy, all of which help achieve greater sustainability at a local level but also contribute to the global fight against climate change.

Fairtrade farmers and workers decide for themselves how the premium money is spent because it is them who know best what they need to become more resilient.

The recent COP26 meeting saw the promised $100bn annual funding for the most climate vulnerable countries postponed until 2023. A root cause of the inability to adapt to and mitigate climate change is poverty, and more money in the hands of the farmers is needed if they are going to be able to survive climate change and support responsible sourcing.

Did you know that there are lots of different Fairtrade products available to buy?

Here are some of the many products available:

Bananas

Cotton

Rice

Cocoa

Fruit

Vegetables

Sugar

Coffee

Flowers

Herbs and Spices

Honey

Nuts/oils

Quinoa

Carbon

Composites

Wine

Gold textiles

Tea

Now more than ever is a good time to get involved, so what can we do to help?

Why not hold a Fairtrade coffee morning in your office and encourage colleagues to bring in and share different Fairtrade products and enjoy them together?

Not only is this a great way to start buying Fairtrade products but it can also introduce your team to Fairtrade products they were previously not aware of.

Visit Fairtrade

Products for downloadable posters,

Fairtrade banana bread and chocolate cupcake recipes, quizzes and even a link to a giant banana costume (an optional extra!)

March 8, 2022 - International Women’s Day International Women’s Day (IWD) is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women. The day also marks a call to action for accelerating women’s equality.

International Women’s Day (IWD) is one of the most important days of the year to: Celebrate women’s achievements Raise awareness about women’s equality Lobby for accelerated gender parity Fundraise for female-focused charities Marston Holdings strives to create a diverse and inclusive workforce and we want to take this opportunity to recognise and celebrate women’s achievements.

This year Marston Holdings has submitted 17 nominations into the European Women in Construction and Engineering Awards. Winners will be announced in May, we wish all the nominees the very best of luck!

London Job Show

Marston Holdings will be attending the London Job Show at Westfield London 11-12 March 2022 - Westfield Stratford 1-2 April 2022 - Westfield Shepherds Bush

The London Job Show is the UKs most attended recruitment event and is going to be a great chance for us to show case the business and career opportunities that we have available and get to meet 1000’s of people who we wouldn’t otherwise reach.

We will be there to direct potential candidates to our job boards and highlight roles that may be suitable for them.

Marston Holdings is a trading name of Marston (Holdings) Limited.

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