Over the past 18 months AW Group has been developing a programme of Social Value initiatives and projects supporting local community initiatives based here in Folkestone. Initially we started with a timber project where we saw timber diverted away from skips to organisations that support youth work, rehabilitation, ex- offenders, timber to colleges to support carpentry/bricklaying courses, to supporting local community gardens that are dotted around the town.

It was by working with these organisations that we further identified material taken from sites could have real value to these organisations, without these engaging conversations we would not have realised how other people see a value in different waste streams.

Some examples:

• Tonne sand bags are being used to line planters, raised beds and compost bins constructed from old pallets
• Plastic ducting removed from site when cut up into foot lengths make perfect flower pots
• Imperfect engineering bricks have been used to make insect habitats
• Longer lengths of plastic ducting have been used as ventilation on heritage projects

Community Example:

On a recent conversion project of a McColls to Morrisons Daily store in Abergavenny, which in a previous life had acted as a local farm shop, there were several good quality wooden crates that had been used to display products/produce. Although the scope of the project had these items for disposal to skip, we reached out to the local community via their town Facebook page and received an overwhelming response from local organisations. Not only did we manage to upcycle these items but also several other legacy items were also redirected away from skips.

We fully comply with achieving the four-pillars of Social Value being the environment, workplace, community and supporting philanthropy activities. We further strive to adopt our Social Value Policies in line with PPN 06/20 to deliver social value through government and local authority commercial activities.

To support the supply chain and local economic benefit, we buy local and spend local to support the high street and local businesses: Plant, materials, equipment, skip hire, waste removal etc. For longer projects we support the hospitality and leisure industry by providing our operatives with locally sourced accommodation, not necessarily the bigger chains but smaller independents.

This reduces travel time to site ensuring our operatives arrive on time, refreshed and ready for work, reducing further our carbon footprint for travel by vehicle. Spending in the local area could mean meaningful employment for others within the area, food stores, cafes, fuel stations, hospitality venues.

The company prides itself on contributions made to help the wider community. Depending on client requirements opportunities for volunteering/sponsorship will be assessed on merit which may mean completing an element of pro bono work that will benefit the community. Previous examples of this have included supporting local companies with gangs of operatives for maintenance of heritage sites, raising money for local independent sports facilities, providing materials to help with projects in the local community.

Our recycling initiatives have gained considerable interest from online media and we are the subject of an upcoming radio show talking about our environmental and sustainability schemes.