Social Value at VolkerFitzpatrick
We are proud to embed social value into the way we deliver projects. We understand that addressing sustainability challenges requires collaboration. We actively seek partnerships with local environmental and community groups, charities, schools and colleges.
‘Opening our doors’ as part of Build UK’s Open Doors initiative. Each year, we get involved with Open Doors, educating school pupils about the endless career possibilities available within the sector and routes into the industry.
Education and employability - Encouraging the next generation
We build strong and meaningful relationships with schools and other educational establishments to increase awareness among young students about the career opportunities in the construction industry. We want to stimulate young minds about the exciting world of construction, as well as supporting schools to meet Gatsby Benchmark requirements, to provide employer engagement and work experience opportunities for students.
Our Heathrow team volunteered at Hillingdon Foodbank on five separate occasions as well as donated food.
Charity, volunteering and community engagement
Establishing meaningful relationships with charities and local communities enables us to develop mutually beneficial partnerships. Our work affects people lives – the areas they live, work and play in, and it is our goal to ensure this is done is a positive way.
VolkerFitzpatrick is a Patron of CRASH, supporting several of its construction projects for homelessness charities and hospices. The business also entered into partnership with Save the Children, raising funds and providing ongoing financial support, including an initial donation of £10,000 to mark the business’ 100th anniversary, while also offering technical expertise for the charity’s building projects.
Sustainable supply chain and ethical procurement
We are committed to operating our business in a fair and ethical way, ensuring we procure with likeminded supply chain partners.
We want to ensure all types of businesses have a fair opportunity to work with us so have an approach to procurement with sustainability embedded into it. This includes working with SMEs, Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprises (VCSEs) and organisations with diverse leadership teams. We also recognise and understand the importance of procuring locally and the benefits this brings to communities and families, so prioritise this where possible.
Calculating our social value contribution
We have an established partnership with Thrive who supported us in configuring a centralised reporting portal which was launched in early 2021. This enabled us to capture our sustainability and social value commitments, and use proxy values to calculate the impact of our activities aligned to the Impact Evaluation Standard.
Our actions are guided by VolkerWessels UK People-Planet-Purpose Sustainability Framework. The ‘Purpose’ pillar of our framework focuses on having a positive impact in the communities where we work, charity, volunteering, and community engagement, and sustainable supply chain and ethical procurement.
Brent Cross West Station
At this project over £15 million in social value was created. Find out more here
CRASH Charity Support
In 2023 we donated over £45,000 to CRASH charity. Activities included the refurbishment of a centre for the homeless, a charity golf day, a charity cycle ride and taking part in the 3 peak challenge. More info here