Supporting Staff & The Local Community: Lincs Social Responsibility Charter
The Lincoln Social Responsible Charter showcases ‘star employers’ who undertake activities that benefit their employees and give back to the local community.
Back in 2019, Streets Heaver signed up to the Lincoln Social Responsibility Charter, an initiative set up by the City of Lincoln Council to encourage more businesses to take on socially responsible activities in the community. Undertaking these activities, not only benefits employees and the community, but also benefits the local economy and business.
Company Commitment
Streets Heaver is committed to treating staff fairly. Including paying the living wage and granting leave for employees to engage in community or charitable activities. Apprenticeships schemes are run in conjunction with the college and are offered each year. We promote a supportive company culture, actively encouraging employees to be involved in the local community through charity work, volunteer days and personal development.
Since signing the Charter, we have seen a more proactive approach to volunteering and increased engagement in our charity work amongst staff. Each year, Streets Heaver choose a ‘Charity of the Year’ to support through fundraising and we have continued to see so much enthusiasm in taking part that we’ve now formed a ‘charity team’ to further expand our efforts – with lots of activities still to come including; charity walks, food bank collections and litter picks.
Supporting Our Staff
Streets Heaver recently enrolled in a Mental Health & Productivity at Work Pilot study by Warwick University & MIND charity. We were pleased to see a huge interest in the study internally, which supports our ongoing promotion of the importance of mental health of wellbeing. This is a great step towards removing the stigma of mental health.
There has also been a number of exciting innovations developed through our internal personal development programme. Employees have utilised their time to create new automation technology, upskill in areas of interest and even branch out into building their own tech courses for local young women.
Change For The Better
Knowing we are part of the Lincoln Social Responsibility Charter has influenced decisions on using local and sustainable businesses for purchases such as staff thank you gifts and design work. The importance of supporting local has become more important than ever since the pandemic, and we believe Lincoln has so much to offer.
The recognition we receive as a result of these activities also impacts the quality of our recruitment. We have seen a higher calibre of applicants who reflect an interest in our culture and values.
“The Charter demonstrates our commitment to Lincoln, our local community and our staff.”
Benedict Heaver, Commercial Director is thrilled to see employees feeling more engaged and committed to supporting the community: “We chose to sign up as it gives a good benchmark to measure the business against. We ticked a lot of the boxes as standard practice but wanted to raise the bar even further. Since we signed it, we have continued to focus on employee wellbeing and personal development. The team have really impressed me on their hard work and charitable efforts in return.”