We’ve been adding value for years
Jun 6, 2013
By Rukhsana Nabi. Partnerships Manager
The Social Value Act came into force earlier this year and for once it was a piece of legislation passed with cross-party support. In a nutshell, the Act requires that public authorities take into account wider social and environmental value when they choose suppliers. Theoretically the means that people who work with local authorities and government (like us) should also demonstrate how much added value they will bring to the communities they work with. We have always supported the Act – but then we would, because we have been working like this for years – in fact it is a core part of our philosophy.
A great example of has just taken place at the Black Friar tower block in Blackfriars, Salford, where we have been working for a year to modernise the inside of the properties and fit an energy efficient cladding to the external walls on behalf of our client Salix Homes. Our site team has been there for over a year and as we were saying goodbye we decided to help Vertical Villages residents association fulfil their ambition to redevelop the communal space, and make use of some funds they’de secured from Salix Homes.
Site Manager John Woolley and Lead Resident Liaison Officer Adam Berry demonstrated their fabulous organisational skills by pulling together a volunteer garden army. They pulled strings and called in favours so that over a dozen sub contractors very kindly donated their time, expertise or money. These extra resources were all the residents needed to get a long planned and ambitious plan off the ground. For our part, we helped provide supplies such as soil and compost, organised the garden army and our own staff, including joiners and bricklayers, offered their time and expertise to join residents, Salix Homes staff and contractors to clear up debris, litter pick and jet wash communal areas.
In the communal areas an area of decking has been built and the ramp to the existing shed has been made more wheelchair friendly. There has been masses of re-planting while new walls and fencing have been erected and painted. The fabulous volunteers managed to complete the make over in two days.
We plan to give the plants a few weeks to grow and then have a formal launch party in July but if you want to see our progress so far, take a look at our Facebook page.
We would also like to say a big thank you to the following companies for their support and adding their ‘social value’ to this project:
Absolute Electrical, Leigh Electrical, JWD, Liquid Roofing, Foggs Floors, Remedial Restoration, PBI, Network Scaffold, M&R Heating, Hoist It, BLD, Airsafe UK, Belfry Group and Sovereign Group.
We’ll catch up with this project again in July.
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