Supporting the community in Leicester City
As part of the Leicester City Council Framework, CPW has committed to achieving a set of CSR goals for each year. CPW have been delighted to contribute to a wide variety of projects around Leicester, helping a number of good causes. Our first year of CSR commitments for the Leicester City Council Framework has seen us engage in a mix of volunteering, fundraising and providing work experience opportunities.
Volunteering and fundraising
At the start of Year 1, we teamed up with Leicestershire Cares and Enrych to help renovate a garden for a single dad who’s disability makes it difficult for him to maintain his garden. He had a young son who could not play outside due to the overgrown state of his garden. Over a day and half, the weeds were cleared, a new low-maintenance astro-turf area created and a gate installed to secure the area. A new bench was provided along with climbing frame so the two of them can enjoy the outside space together.
Laura Crook, Community Partnership Co-ordinator at Enrych, said: “I have been totally blown away by the help the Leicestershire Cares Community Development Team and CPW were able to give to one of our clients. They have made a huge difference to his and his son's life, as they are now both able to use the garden and enjoy the outdoor space. CPW went above and beyond and exceeded my expectations.”
CPW are working on a project at Nether Hall Special School with Leicester City Council, but have also been able to volunteer some time to support the school. This involved supporting to develop their outdoor learning facility in the field adjacent to the school, including creating a new Gruffalo Trail.
Conscious that many people were struggling with the cost of living crisis, New Springs Church launched their AOK500 scheme (Acts Of Kindness) to deliver 5000 hampers to anyone in need. The CPW offices collected donations from their staff for the hampers, but also donated £5,000 to this cause to let them buy provisions and assist this great project supporting local people struggling at this time.
Our new Charity Day scheme introduced this year across the whole business allowed each team to pick a local charity or cause and spend two days each year working on this. The CPW Leicester Team chose to spend the first of these days litter picking at Grace Dieu – a local beauty spot that is very popular in warm weather but can leave a litter problem after busy periods. Over the day the team removed twelve bin liners full of rubbish.
Work experience opportunities
We were invited by Leicestershire Cares to get involved with their scheme that supports young offenders or those at risk of offending to access work experience as part of their route to employment. After an interview we invited one of their female participants who had expressed an interest in engineering and sustainability to spend some time with us. This proved very successful and sparked a real interest!
128 hours of work experience was also provided to another student needing CAD experience as part of his course with the JCB academy.
The team at CPW Leicester have very much enjoyed being involved with local communities and seeing the improvements made to people’s lives and the environment. Plans are already in place for more ambitious targets in Year 2.
Interested in working with the Leicester team? Get in touch!
