What we believe in
Social responsibility describes the way Groundscapes is making a difference to the social and economic well-being of our communities through our work, our public events and our activities.
We strive to make a positive difference to the life and future of our locality by taking socially responsible decisions that have real, beneficial, measurable impacts on the people and the environment around us.
Creating opportunities for our local communities
We do this through:
Employing local labour. We support local employment and pay the living wage. Around 30% of our workforce live in properties that are owned or managed by our clients.
Resident workshops. We run these to assist residents who are looking to go back to work. We provide a variety of courses to them. These include work experience (up to four weeks), vocational work placements and job shadowing to provide people with an understanding of the role.
Apprenticeships. We have formal links with various colleges who manage our apprenticeships. These schemes have been highly successful.
Job schemes. We provide access to fully funded innovation courses.
Creating better spaces for our local communities
We do this through:
Resident clean up days. We provide free labour and equipment to clean up their estates.
Community Investment Fund. We provide clients with an annual fund to be used to improve their estates.
Garden in Bloom competitions. We provide prizes and a ‘judge’.
Grow your own schemes. We help fund self-sufficiency schemes and provide a basic set of tools and encourage the creation of low maintenance herb gardens to enhance the environment and our clients’ culinary exploits.
Free compost. We recycle 100% of our green waste, which is composted and re distributed to our clients free of charge.
Bulb planting. We work with residents’ sites to plant bulbs as part of our social action project.
Books for children. We have written and published a children’s book to promote environmental awareness. We offer this free of charge to our residents.
Sponsorship. Consultation events, scheme events,awards ceremonies, raffles, away days for sheltered residents, coffees mornings, child care even bouncy castles! We will try to support as many initiatives as we can if it helps our communities to benefit.
Creating a better world for everyone
We do this through:
ISO 14001. We are an ISO 14001 accredited company; our environmental management program is deeply embedded in our culture.
Recycling. We recycle 100% of our green waste, which is composted and re distributed to our clients free of charge.
Company fleet. All company vehicles are fitted with speed limiters and a Quartix Vehicle Tracking System to ensure economic running and best routes. The vehicles are low emission with start/stop technology and we also use LPG vehicles.
Pedal power. We encourage or staff to walk or cycle to the office.
Carbon offsetting. We offset some of our carbon footprint each year by donating to the Woodland Trust.
Local procurement. Where possible we always use small to medium enterprises that are local to us to ensure sustainable procurement.
Use of chemicals. We select chemicals that are effective but have a low impact on the environment. Weeds are cut down before weedkiller is applied to reduce amount used and increase performance ensuring less chance of 2nd attempt.
Our Team… out there and taking action!
