SUEZ skills fund festive cheer for 83 UK charities

Established four years ago by SUEZ Technical Development Director Stuart Hayward-Higham, SCOPE designs and implements solutions for organisations looking to reduce waste and maximise resources at every stage in their value chain. Dividing the profits generated by those solutions among local charities as part of the Scope Christmas Fund ensures those value chains deliver social as well as environmental benefits.

The charities are chosen by members of the 6,500-strong SUEZ workforce, many of whom have already donated time to support their nominated organisation as part of the SUEZ ‘Day a Year to Volunteer’ programme where colleagues are encouraged to take an extra day of paid leave to help a good cause in their area.

Stuart Hayward-Higham said: “The skills and experience we have within our core business can help product manufacturers design with the planet in mind and ensure they aren’t wasting their time, money or the Earth’s resources.

“However, innovation can deliver much more in terms of social capital and the not-for-profit status of the SCOPE programme means businesses that use it can deliver social as well as environmental outcomes for themselves and communities across the UK.”

Each of the Scope Christmas Fund beneficiaries receives a donation of either £250 or £500 to spend on Christmas treats for the people they help, whether that’s a special gift, Christmas party, fun day out or simply ensuring that a family in crisis can provide the basics for their children.

One such charity is Maidenhead’s The Baby Bank – which provides essential support for children up to 16 years of age whose families are struggling to make ends meet. Co-founder Rebecca Mistry has seen a 36% increase in the people being referred to her charity which helps with essentials such as clothes, nappies and beds.

She said: “This money will go towards buying beds for 10 children. You would think nowadays that a bed is a given but so many of the children we help are sleeping on floors or sofas because they simply don’t have a bed. The difference we can make to those children by giving them a comfortable night’s sleep is unbelievable.”

In the North East, Fighting All Cancers (FACT) is a charity which supports people who have received a cancer diagnosis by providing counselling and group activities whilst also working in the community to raise awareness and educate people on how to spot the early signs of the disease. Their £500 will be invested in display boards to use as part of a colon cancer awareness campaign following the charity’s premises being burgled and existing boards vandalised.

Volunteer Kerry Hiles-Garratt said: “FACT relies on donations to provide our service and we are so grateful that SUEZ also helped us with volunteers to come and set up our Christmas lunch this year. We couldn’t do what we do without people like you so we are delighted to have received the donation – it could literally save lives.”

The other charities that SCOPE has helped this can be viewed here.