Pictured above: (from left) David Darlaston of Business in
the Community, Alan Miller,The Midcounties C-operative,
Sutherland's Headteacher Steve Wall and Midcounties Chief Executive
Ben Reid with Head Girl Nicola Faulkner, 15, (left) and Deputy Head
Girl Rachael Griffiths, 16
The first event in a special programme to show how business and
community partnerships can successfully tackle social issues has
been staged in Shropshire, with a call for more businesses to get
actively involved.
Ben Reid, Chief Executive of The Midcounties Co-operative, led
the day at Sutherland Business and Enterprise College, Telford, -
one of the first Co-operative Trust schools in the country - and
will personally report back to the Prime Minister later this
year.
He is one of the business leaders who have taken up a challenge
to spread the word and inspire other businesses to support local
communities and make a real difference.
The event was part of The Prince's Seeing is Believing
programme, run by the responsible business charity Business in the
Community (BITC) after it consulted business leaders and found that
businesses were already supporting local communities but wanted to
and could do more.
This response and some of the best examples of collaborative
businesses-community projects was presented to the Prime Minister
at the BITC Leadership Summit in December 2010. At the Summit
BITC announced it would run events across the UK, under the banner
'Transforming Business - Transforming Communities' to demonstrate
what businesses were already doing and to inspire more businesses
to get involved. The Prime Minister has requested that later this
year the leaders of these visits report back to him on how the
visits have gone.
Ben Reid said: "Seeing is Believing was a great opportunity to
show what is possible and encourage other businesses to develop
long term education partnerships with schools in their communities.
It not only helps the schools, it makes good business sense
too.
"We engage with our communities because it is fundamental to our
philosophy as a co-operative. Since our partnership started with
Sutherland in 2008 it has benefited both the school and our
business.
"We were very proud when Business in the Community awarded
Midcounties the
national Education Example of Excellence in 2010 in
recognition of our work with Sutherland."
Midcounties has colleague volunteering programmes focussed on
academic and attendance mentoring as well as employability projects
and enterprise events at Sutherland. It also provided financial
support to help the school in its bid for specialist status.
The partnership has contributed to transforming the school's
fortunes with improved GCSE results above the national average and
improved attendance levels.
Delegates from 11 businesses in the Midlands attended the Seeing
is Believing visit. Sutherland's headteacher Steve Wall led a
discussion on how business can better support schools and also led
exercises with delegates to demonstrate the Co-operative approach
to learning.
David Darlaston, Regional Director, Business in the Community,
said he hoped businesses would act on the messages from the day
which emphasised the need for long-term partnerships with schools
and clear business objectives.
He said: "Everyone on the visit was very impressed with
Sutherland and how the Midcounties has helped the school. We hope
we have demonstrated how businesses can help other schools in the
future to equal effect."
Business in the Community is one of The Prince's Charities, a
group of not-for-profit organisations of which The Prince of Wales
is President. The Prince's Seeing is Believing is Business in the
Community's flagship programme for engaging the UK's top business
leaders with key social responsibility issues. The purpose of the
programme is to increase awareness and understanding of social
issues, showcase and increase the positive impact which business
can make in the community and to demonstrate clear examples of how
businesses can make a difference both within the community and
within their business.