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Global Good Awards proudly announces 2018 WINNERS
The 2018 Global Good Awards, sponsored by Revive and now in their fourth year, were held at BMA House last night, 16 May.
We can now proudly announce our wonderful winners: businesses of all sizes who are recognised for their leadership and excellence in social impact and sustainability.
The awards evening was a fabulous affair, we hope that all of our guests enjoyed celebrating with us. A huge ‘thank you’ to all of our sponsors and supporters for making this year’s GGA such a great success.
We were incredibly impressed with the standard of entries this year, and want to thank everyone who took part in the 2018 GGA. Congratulations to our winners on the ambition, vision, and dedication to impact shown in every category.
Addressing delegates in her paper dress made from headline sponsor Denmaur’s Revive 100 carbon balanced paper, founder Karen Sutton said “It’s been another amazing year of entries.. presenting our judges with some incredibly tough decisions; even some of the largest categories had just 12% points between the top and bottom scorer.Not all of our entrants can walk away with the winning prize, but each and every one deserves recognition for their inspiration and initiative, to do good!”
The 2018 Global Good Awards winners are:
The Soap Co., an incredible social enterprise creating employment for people who are blind, disabled or disadvantaged, took two accolades, the first of which was gold in the Best Agency / Consultancy Campaign category (sponsored by Seacourt), in partnership with The Communications Store.
With pro-bono support from The Communications Store, they were able to secure fantastic endorsement, coverage and word of mouth buzz, which has led to a growth in awareness and sales, and the brand being stocked in national chain, Anthropologie. This purpose-led industry leader in the beauty, fashion and lifestyle sectors was praised by the judges for their “no-compromises approach to sustainability and quality”. A truly social social-enterprise, all product profits are reinvested to provide job opportunities across the organisation from marketing to production and IT.
The Soap Co. also took silver in the Best Eco-focused Small Enterprise (sponsored by Belu Water), a category which was won by Toast Ale, a craft beer made with fresh surplus bread that would otherwise go to waste. Using unsold bakery bread and the unused heel ends of loaves from sandwich makers to replace one-third of the malted barley in their beer. Toast Ale donate all profits to the charity Feedback, which campaigns for a better food system, showing their dedication to a fully sustainable food cycle.
There were so many innovative entries competing for Best Eco-Product (sponsored by pebble magazine) this year, but the judges agreed, the winner had to be Snact, who buy “ugly unwanted fruit” from British farmers and pack-houses to fight food waste, making delicious food waste-fighting snacks packed in plastic free packaging. Their mission is to build a global movement of “Snactivists”, creating a deliciously sustainable food future. The results are visible. To date, they’ve saved over 200 tonnes of food from going to waste.
In the Sustainable Transport category (sponsored by Cross River Partnership), Office Team gave us their Care More Initiative, a comprehensive programme which sets out their commitment to place ethics at the heart of the business. Their particular focus is on minimising the carbon emissions of their logistics network, making over 1.2 million deliveries each year; they’re aiming to minimise the environmental impact of those deliveries through a programme of investing in implementing electric vehicles, more efficient routes and larger trailers.
Reduce Reuse Recycle (sponsored by revive) is high on the agenda around the world this year, and our prize winners in this category give us cause for optimism about the future. Taking bronze were Too Good To Go’s Food Waste Revolution app, a social enterprise and consumer market place for surplus food, which connects customers to stores with surplus.
Silver was awarded to the Kings House Reuse Project, a programme from Brighton and Hove City Council with local reuse practitioner and campaigner Cat Fletcher and the charity Freegle. The innovative scheme makes better, more responsible use of offices, assets and procurement, and in doing so, has so far supported more than 300 charities and community groups, 50 schools and the Royal Sussex County Hospital.
However, gold in the Reduce Reuse Recycle category had to go to AB Sugar’s Global Mind, Local Champions scheme; a “circular economy approach“ to being the most efficient and productive processor of sugar in the world. In Europe, their British and Spanish businesses recycle 99% of their waste, making a ‘zero waste’ future an achievable reality.
The judging panel for the Reduce Reuse Recycle category noted, in particular, how the winning scheme demonstrated a clear commitment to finding a creative solution to deliver resource efficiency. Developing and implementing a holistic approach, which required significant financial investment, and a wholehearted belief in the environmental business case. The winning entry was also praised for its “very clear measured outcomes”, and “impressive education work up and down the supply chain”.
Environmental Behaviour Change (sponsored by Paper Lounge) always brings a wide range of ideas. Taking home the silver, Green Business UK impressed the judges with their Green Tourism project, a consultancy and accreditation service, providing support and advice for travel related businesses to help them with a range of needs, from reducing the use of resources to creating jobs and promoting local culture and sustainable lifestyles.
But gold went to the City to Sea scheme, Refill. Launched in 2015 to try and empower people to help reduce plastic pollution; the app allows cafes, bars, restaurants, museums and many other places to register as a Refill station, and offer free water refills to passers-by. The idea has grown, now with 15 schemes in the UK from Devon to Dumfries with the most recent high profile in London, and a recent partnership with the water industry, showing how effective the approach has been on the ground.
In the Sustainable Supply Chain (Sponsored by Paper Round) Taste of Fethiye, a project integrating small, local producers into a large tourism supply chain, from The Travel Foundation, took the silver award. The project has increased income for farmers, introduced more sustainable farming methods, engaged businesses in sustainable tourism and enhanced the tourist experience.
However it was WWF & Thai Union Europe (TUE) who took the gold, with their Working together to source sustainable seafood project, which aims to create sustainable seafood supply chains, protecting the biodiversity of our oceans and ensuring food security for the future. TUE is one of the biggest seafood companies in Europe, and through the partnership, is also providing conservation funding to support WWF’s work ensuring sustainable livelihoods in artisanal fishing communities in East Africa.
Gold in the Building Sustainably category (In association with Carbon Trust) was taken home by Verto Homes. Their project Island Reach; an idea which challenges the stereotypes around sustainable building; providing high quality buildings, with fully integrated, fully automated smart home technology. Island Reach has become Verto Homes’ flagship of “Zero Carbon Smart Home Design”, with sustainably sourced materials used throughout the construction process.
Meanwhile GSK & Save The Children brought us this year’s Best Employee Engagement Scheme (sponsored by GivingForce). Orange United was launched by GSK in 2013 to inspire their employees to make a difference by contributing their time and enthusiasm to fundraise and support the partnership. Through this innovative partnership, to date employees in 70 countries have raised an incredible £3.1 million for Save the Children; with 103 employees volunteering their time through 3-6 month skills-based secondments.
The judging panel for the Best Employee Engagement Scheme category praised the winning scheme for its impressive levels of employee engagement, which occurred across the organisation. The entry was supported by its clearly described commercial and social impact benefits, which were found to be well evidenced and audited.
There was an abundance of inspirational initiatives to be found in this year’s Best Education Project category. Bronze went to Outdoor Classroom Days, a global campaign led by Project Dirt and backed by Unilever, to make outdoor learning and play part of children’s everyday life, which in 2017 alone engaged 2,345,809 children across 101 countries.
2017 marked 10 years since UBS founded its flagship education partnership. The Bridge Academy in Hackney, co-founded by UBS with a client, took the silver prize in the Best Education Project category this year. Working in close partnership with local organisations, the secondary school’s education programme aims to reduce educational inequality and increases the employability of young people through mentoring, skills development, work experience and academic support.
Entries were so strong in the Best Education Project category this year, the judges took the decision to award two golds.
One to recognise excellence in social impact, and to recognise excellence in environmental impact. Firstly to Investec & Arrival Education, for their scheme Invest for Success. Since 2008, Investec has partnered with Tower Hamlets based social enterprise Arrival Education. They collaborate to equip young people from difficult backgrounds, who face “social, economic and cultural barriers”, with skills, knowledge and mind-sets to achieve success and confidence in the financial sectors.
The second winner was Solutions For The Planet’s Big Ideas Programme, delivered so far to over 14,000 young people in the UK, KS3 year groups are engaged in exciting activities around sustainability, environmental problems, teamwork and problem solving; with business mentors supporting the development of ideas throughout the programme, culminating in a final event at the Palace of Westminster.
A collaboration between GSK & Care International won silver in the International Sustainable Community category (Sponsored by Incognito). Care, supported by GSK, are delivering a sustainable healthcare infrastructure across all 87 Unions in Sunamganj, Bangladesh, an area which is under water half the year. This healthcare system is improving health outcomes through community support methods such as the education of 300 “Entrepreneur Midwives” to date, training frontline staff, improving access and mobilising government support.
However the winner in this category was from Cool Earth, and their partnership with Asháninka. The non-profit Cool Earth works alongside rainforest communities to halt deforestation and its impact on climate change. In partnership with communities across Peru, DR Congo and Papua New Guinea, funds are transferred directly to freely elected Community Associations, who decide on and implement projects according to community needs. The judges agree: this approach is game-changing, allowing rainforest protection to become a sustainable component of empowered, healthy communities.
In the Partnership In The Community category, it was hard to choose a winner with so many strong entries. Investec & Arrival Education gained yet more praise for their Invest for Success programme, giving young people facing social, economic and cultural barriers, a unique, real world understanding of financial markets, trading and investments.
In silver position, was the impressive 150Club project from The West Ham United Foundation. Working with the community of Newham, one of the poorest boroughs in London, in partnership with the NHS and Newham Council; West Ham United are using the power of sport to inspire local residents who would otherwise be uncomfortable discussing their health and making positive changes to their lifestyle.
But taking home the gold in the Partnership In The Community category (Sponsored by Give as you Live) are Ocado & Edible Links with their Fresh Food Redistribution scheme. The charitable partnership between online supermarket Ocado, North Warwickshire Borough Council, and the Healthy Living Network Nuneaton & Bedworth, between April 2017 and February 2018 redistributed over 231 tonnes of fresh food to over 6,000 people in 153 community and school groups.
In our judges comments, the winning partnership was praised for its innovative approach to harnessing the capabilities of each member, and maximising their positive impact. They were also recognised for their commitment to developing and delivering a service that really sought to understand and to meet the needs of the people they serve.
In the Individual Community Project category, silver went to a collaboration between Cross Country Trains & The Scout Association. The Cub Scout Personal Safety Project educates young people around the importance of rail safety, and has been a huge success across the UK, with +26.5k activity packs downloaded and +14k safety badges awarded to date.
Meanwhile the winning entry was Roshni – The Light from the Association Of Blind Asians (ABA), which seeks to address the many issues surrounding loss of sight, and the impact this can have on individuals and relatives. The project offers a wide range of services, which will allow service users to have access to advocacy support, and important information, as well as drop-in sessions, social opportunities and exercise classes to improve physical and mental wellbeing.
James Thornton from Client Earth bagged the award for best Outstanding Individual Corporate Leadership. As founder and chief executive of ClientEarth, “Europe’s first and leading environmental law charity”, he finds creative and practical ways to protect the environment using the power of the law. Under Thornton’s leadership, ClientEarth has won a series of landmark cases against the UK government on air quality, blocked what would have been Europe’s largest new coal power plant being built in Poland and led shareholders to transform how Shell, BP and Glencore act on climate risk.
The Overall Excellence In Corporate Responsibility gave us the Journey Matters initiative from Belazu Ingredients which is based on “3 corporate responsibility pillars: Product, Planet and People”. Belazu are committed to building long-term relationships with suppliers, customers and employees, and are devoted to developing the company’s charitable arm, the Belazu Foundation, which supports educational and food poverty initiatives for underprivileged individuals to foster “positive relationships with their food”.
Gold in this category went to The Crown Estate and their Creating Brilliant Places scheme. Through conscious commercialism, they attempt to create environments that are relevant, attractive and profitable. They give a “snap-shot of sustainable working practices” and innovative projects, while measuring ongoing value, in collaboration with business partners, customers and wider stakeholders, including their own staff people. The Crown also picks up a £3,500 sponsorship package for this very category for 2019!
Last but certainly not least, this year’s Special Judges Award went to Graham Construction and their Folkestone Harbour Regeneration. The aspirations of the project were to realise long term regeneration goals that ensure Folkestone will have an economy that works for 12 months of the year. The judges were particularly impressed with the project because of the “commitment and effort demonstrated to reuse the elements of the original site in the regeneration project and further afield in the community, to avoid waste”, they also engaged and demonstrated community engagement so exemplified a “global good” approach.
There you have it, our wonderful winners of the 2018 Global Good Awards. A huge congratulations to all of our entrants this year. And thanks to everyone that participated and supported the GGA.
Next week we will be sharing more inspiration, when we profile our 2018 ‘ones to watch’… 15 amazing entries that have been identified as potential winners of the future.
Interesting in entering the Global Good Awards in 2019?
It’s not too early to register your interest in entering for 2019. Entries open on 1st December but if you’re registered with us, we can update you on categories, criteria and dates.
Anyone wishing to be part of the Global Good revolution and this unique awards programme can contact Founder, Karen Sutton: karen@GlobalGoodAwards.co.uk
