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ESG – Environmental, Social and Governmental

Hexagonal icons featuring ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) elements such as recycling, people, buildings, and growth charts, with the text "Environmental, social & governance".

As a charity with 1200+ colleagues and volunteers and over 90 retail shops, we know we have an impact on the environment, which can be both positive and negative. However, we want to be a force for change and play our part in the UK’s journey to meet the net zero target by 2050.

We have put in place an annual action plan to ensure we embed sustainability throughout our work and culture and make progress towards the ESG objectives we have set and the best practice guidelines we have committed to follow in our ESG policy

Our ESG policy

Environmental

Our aim is to reduce the impact we have on the environment and on society, ensuring the highest ethical standards and considering environmental sustainability and social responsibility in all we do.

We commit to…

    • reducing our use of energy, water, paper, and other resources and seek renewable alternatives
    • insisting on the use of paper or board from FSC® certified forests for all print projects
    • minimising waste through reduction, re-use, and recycling
    • engaging only with contractors who share our ESG objectives
    • reducing the need to travel by promoting options such as car sharing and agile working
    • encouraging involvement in local environmental and social initiatives
    • providing training and information and encouraging responsibility for the environment and the implementation of our policy with our colleagues and volunteers
    • complying with all relevant regulatory requirements. 

 

Social

Our social sustainability is focussed on considering the impact of our charitable activities and investment decisions on the UK EB community that we support, our colleagues, volunteers, supporters, customers, and the local economy.

We are committed to creating a culture where equality and diversity are embedded in our values and actions and where colleague wellbeing is a priority. We strive to have a positive impact on all the communities we work with, ensuring the highest ethical standards, and considering environmental sustainability and social responsibility in all that we do..

We commit to…

    • always making a positive contribution
    • providing an equal opportunity workplace where we invest in professional development and colleagues and volunteers are valued
    • maximising opportunities to participate in community or social development programmes
    • developing our volunteering and apprenticeship programmes and work placements
    • identifying potential risks and the impact of our investment choices before making an investment
    • ensuring our supply chain adheres to our business ethics, human rights, environmental product and safety standards.
    • ensuring our leadership (trustees, committee members, senior leadership team) lead by example both in practice and behaviour

 

Governmental

Our Trustee Board has a collective responsibility for everything we do and is responsible for:

    • our overall strategic direction including evaluating progress against our strategic plans
    • ensuring our financial stability
    • acting in the best interests of our organisation
    • ensuring that we comply with our governing documents, and any other relevant legislation from our regulators

The Trustee Board ensures our standards and practices fully embrace the principles of the Charity Commission Charity Governance Code, the Fundraising Regulator, and GDPR data protection. 
Strong corporate governance is critical to protecting our membership, supporters, colleagues, volunteers, and our reputation.  We will seek to drive compliance with the relevant laws and regulations and promote best practice in all operations and activities, considering environmental protection, public health and safety, human rights, anti-bribery and corruption, and labour and anti-slavery practices. We will also seek to ensure sustainable investments. 

Our Trustee Annual Report and Account includes commentary on several areas of ESG including EDI and our social impact