Sustainability report 2009
Community investment
Investing in the communities in which we work helps us to make a long-lasting contribution to society and to local people. We want to create investment programmes which are sustainable so we can support communities in the long-term.
Actively engaging with local communities to deliver social benefits “beyond the contract” can help us to win repeat business and strengthens our position as a good corporate citizen. It also helps to engage our employees.
Our approach
Due to the size and diverse nature of the Balfour Beatty Group, whatever we do at corporate level needs to be clearly focused and make a substantial and measurable contribution to a defined cause.
Our choice to focus on helping young people make the most of their futures fits with our desire to create a sustainable future for the business. We now support a wide range of programmes to enhance young peoples’ aspirations, motivation, quality of life and achievement levels.
Building Better Futures
Key facts:
- £500,000 target
- £200,000 company contribution
- Over 100 projects helped
- £599,392 raised
- £1 for £1 matched funding
To mark our centenary in 2009, we set up a charitable trust to help focus our energies in support of disadvantaged young people. The programme branded Building Better Futures, aims to provide appropriate financial assistance to a wide range of projects, designed by expert organisations to help young people.
In the UK, we are working with The Prince’s Trust and Action for Children.
Within The Prince’s Trust we are supporting the “Community Cash Award” programme, whereby young people living in deprived communities are granted funds to put their own good ideas to improve their community into action, and in so doing increase their own motivation and sense of self-worth.
With Action for Children, our funding is being used to buy disability learning equipment at centres throughout the UK. Mentally and physically disabled children, who are often denied the important developmental opportunities provided by interactive play, will have special play areas and facilities built and installed to help them develop and learn.
A huge variety of fundraising activities, involving employees across the UK, contributed to both these programmes, allowing the Group to exceed the £500,000 target.
Outside the UK, through our international subsidiaries and joint ventures, the trust has funded programmes appropriate to local need while supporting our corporate goals.
The Heery International Foundation was launched in Spring 2009, funded primarily by our business Heery International in the US and donations from their employees, but supplemented by a grant from the Balfour Beatty trust. This provides the business with an additional community outreach opportunity, supplementing its very successful community service month, Heery from the Heart.
The Balfour Beatty charitable trust has also provided finance to help Balfour Beatty Communities to support Project H.O.M.E. in Philadelphia. The grant will specifically focus on funding the newly created Balfour Beatty Math Program for K-6 students in Northern Philadelphia.
The success of Building Better Futures will continue into 2010, with support for the same UK-based charities in addition to contributing to another children’s charity – the Thomas Coram Foundation. Coram works with vulnerable children, young people and their families and provides adoption, parenting advice, supported housing and family support and education.
In addition to corporate work, our employees and businesses are encouraged to involve themselves in the charitable causes of their choice. During our centenary year, a total of £2.5m has been donated to charitable causes by the Group, either directly, or via Building Better Futures and £210,000 through the generous contributions of our employees. In the US, our construction business contributed more than £875,000 to support charities such as United Way, March of Dimes and national cancer research facilities.
Get into Construction
In 2009, we continued our support for Get into Construction, a scheme that we co-founded with The Prince’s Trust Construction and Building Services Leadership Group in 2006. This seeks to encourage disadvantaged young people to consider construction as a career. To date 1,000 people have been supported through 82 courses, leading to employment and further training opportunities in the industry. Courses are a two to four-week skills development programme designed to introduce young people to the construction industry by training them in various skills, including carpentry, joinery, plastering, brickwork, painting and decorating.
