Located just a stone’s throw away from our head office in Leeds, Paperworks is a social enterprise and registered charity giving people with both learning and physical disabilities a chance to gain tangible workplace skills in any vocational area.
For three decades, the group has provided part-time training based around an individuals’ abilities for as long as necessary, and aim to act as a bridge into the wider world of work. They also recognise that, for some trainees, the Paperworks organisation themselves become their ideal place of work.
It was our pleasure to invite the staff and trainees of Paperworks to our head office, where they were given a tour of our facilities, in addition to collecting 80 boxes of archived paperwork ready for their team to shred.
Paperworks is truly a wonderful organisation, and we massively look forward to supporting them where we can on an ongoing basis!
This week, our Sustainability Manager Sophie Henderson was in York, lending a hand to the incredible St Nicks with their Green Corridors project.
St Nicks is York-based charity in possession of a beautiful 24-acre nature reserve, open to explore 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Their volunteer team is tasked with managing and maintaining the reserve to ensure it’s benefits are accessible to everyone, no matter what, and Sophie joined the group on Monday to assist them in this essential work.
St Nick’s ‘Green Corridors’ project is an initiative the team are embarking on to connect more green spaces around York – spaces they call ‘Green Corridors’. This admirable work will see nature around the area adequately conserved, communities better supported, and all with the aim of reducing pollution, challenging harmful developments, and improving land management. The team are determined to reconnect and restore the green areas surrounding York so that key species and habitats are allowed to thrive, and Howard Civil Engineering is more than willing to jump at the opportunity to support this incredible cause!
Speaking about her time supporting St Nicks and their ‘Green Corridors’ project, Sophie had this to say:
“On Monday, I took part in the city-wide bioblitz supporting St Nicks; observing all kinds of creatures, plants, bugs and flowers, in addition to geting stuck into some cultivation in preparation for the sowing of wildflower seeds. We [Howard Civil Engineering] are looking forward to taking part in more volunteering on an on-going basis!”
To learn more about the exceptional work put in by St Nicks, head over to their website by clicking here.
To round off our festive #12DaysofHCE giving with a bang, we’re making our twelfth and final donation a double-whammy!
Starting things off is Pocklington Rugby In The Community. Located in (you guessed it) Pocklington, this newly established charity is “working to strengthen the community through activities that promote health and well-being and enhance lives for all.” Their three core goals are as follows: promoting the game of rugby by hosting a range of activities, broadening participation by supporting partnerships with other sporting organisations, and increasing the number of people of all ages participating in regular social activities.
The charity hosts and encourages all kinds of events and activities for their community; volunteer awards nights, PockDown (the town’s family funday), movie nights, and more! Enabling community spirit like this is such an amazing thing to see, and something we will always advocate for!
And last, but certainly by no means least, is The Valley Project! You may remember that we supported them a few months ago with volunteers and materials to help construct their new toilet block. We’re supporting them once again this Christmas with a donation to help them continue their dedication towards providing a safe outdoor space for children and young people in Bradford.
In total, we donated £800 (£400 to each respectively), meaning we’ve knocked our £5,000 donation goal out of the park! We’d like to extend our thanks once again to Pocklington Rugby In The Community and The Valley Project, as well as our gratitude to ALL of the charities we supported over the last few weeks. Every single one of these is undertaking vital work to make our country – and the world – a better place for everyone. Their inspiring work is extraordinary to see, and we strongly encourage all those reading to support them too if possible!
And that’s a wrap! Thanks for joining us for this year’s #12DaysofHCE, and have no doubt that we’ll be back next year to do this all over again – until then, from everyone here at Howard Civil Engineering, we’d like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year – see you in 2024!
What’s Christmas without presents? For children around the world, it’s the time of year when their wishes come true, though this isn’t the case for all of them.
Christmas is for every child. That’s Cash for Kids’ core belief this December as they engage in Mission Christmas: making a difference by getting presents to as many underprivileged children as possible. Collectively, they raised a staggering £20.4m across the UK in 2022, supporting 489,409 children in total! With numbers like these, there’s no denying how hard the team push themselves for a good cause!
To support them in their efforts, we’re doing two things: first off is a donation of £400 to assist in the charity’s overall mission this Christmas. In addition to this, we also sent over some helping hands to assist Cash for Kids with a variety of roles; receiving deliveries, sorting and packing gifts, loading collections, and more!
Trainee Estimator Daniel Heffernan and Marketing Manager Jack Cameron-Dolan were the two volunteers who took up the challenge on Wednesday. It was great for us to get stuck in on the frontlines of Cash for Kids’ endeavours, and we’d like to extend our immense gratitude for all of the incredible work they do to ensure no child goes without some festive joy this year.
Sometimes, it’s the little things that make a big difference. For this #12DaysofHCE, we’re supporting a local community to bring back something special.
In the village of Fangboss, located in the East Riding of Yorkshire, we’re donating £400 to help pay for a new bench. The previous millennium bench (named as such for being placed at the turn of the millennium) was once situated at the southern end of the parish, however was removed due to it becoming unsafe, following years of bearing the brunt of the weather.
The bench was particularly well used as a result of it being located near several popular walking routes throughout the town. With it having so much value to the local community, we knew lending a hand to replace it would be a worthwhile cause!
Fangoss’ bench stands (or rather sits) as a reminder that little things like this can make a big difference. Something as small as a quaint place to sit can have a real impact on communities like Fangfoss, and we’re proud to have a part in ensuring these little amenities don’t go amiss.
For many, Christmas is an excuse to forget about your diet, let loose, and indulge in all the treats you’d normally try so hard to resist. Because of this, it’s easy to forget just how difficult this time of year can be for some.
Food banks are on the frontline of combatting this crisis, ensuring those who can’t afford everyday essentials don’t go hungry. One of these is Wetherby & District Food Bank (W&DFB), which opened nearly a decade ago in 2014.
For almost 10 years, they’ve been serving their local community by providing food to those in crisis, working alongside other food banks, agents charities and organisations to distribute surplus food items and essentials where needed, and avoiding waste by guaranteeing all their donations reach people experiencing hardship.
To support them over one of the busiest periods of the year, we’re donating £400 to W&DFB. One in five people throughout the UK lives in poverty, but with the help of food banks like this one, there’s some hope that one day this will change. Last year, the team were able to hand out 314 three-day emergency food supplies to their local community, showcasing just how much one food bank can do on its own.
To learn more about the great work they do, and even donate if you can, visit their website here.
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