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Global Good stars of the future: meet our 2018 ‘Ones To Watch’ that are solving problems on a local scale.
The Global Good Awards celebrates organisations and initiatives, of all shapes and sizes, that are working to create a better world: making positive social and environmental change, whilst also driving growth in the global economy.
This year we saw an exceptional amount of entries that showed massive potential across so many areas of sustainability and social impact, but were still relatively young projects, and didn’t have the necessary measured impact to meet the full criteria.
We are sure that we’ll be seeing them again in the not-too-distant future – which is why they are our ‘ones to watch’!
Here are 3 entries which we agree will go on to have a great and enduring impact, and will do so by trying to solve a problem on a local scale or within a particular community, in a way that can be scaled or replicated…
Great partnerships seed great innovation. And this year’s Best Partnership in the Community category brought us plenty of examples of this. One which didn’t receive an award but deserves recognition is the Water Matters campaign from Thames Water and ARK.
This campaign aims to communicate the real benefits of saving water, and to date has distributed over 80,000 water saving devices, showing the reach of the project to a wide audience. The scheme is totally relevant to the objectives of Thames River as a business, yet we were blown away by their dedication to educating people, despite the fact that customers saving water will mean a reduction in revenue for the company.
It’s an impressive example of how you can turn a negative issue into a positive collaboration with a local community, and we think the program will have real legacy if the community is taught to pass on the learnings themselves, with Thames Water continuing to provide support. The judges implore Thames Water to raise their expectations about the large scale impact they could have through schools, and we look forward to seeing them back at the GGA’s in the not-too-distant future.
Big ideas can come from small beginnings. And that’s no truer than in this year’s Eco-Focused Small Business category. Nature Workshops provide training opportunities, using the best classroom available: the natural world. Their goal is to make sure that more people have access to access nature for well being, education for sustainable development, and for fun!
They have published research about their work with vulnerable young people and adults with mental health issues, and have had great success with what appear to be limited resources.
Our judges were “awe-inspired” by how this small team have managed to train a high number of people and left a real legacy with their students, and we all agreed that this project could fast gain support from even more people, via targeted projects or expertise.
The project aligns with so many important issues by reconnecting people with nature, and we can only hope it continues to grow, as it has a positive effect on the lives of more and more young people.
An excellent entry from the Best Employee Engagement Scheme category, and definitely one to watch, and learn from… OVO’s Give Back Scheme supports local charities through volunteering, and what the company calls the ‘OVO Community Chest’; in addition to £100,000 of funding for projects improving outcomes for communities in Bristol and London.
Powered by the OVO Foundation, this initiative is a solid model of using volunteer hours to help a range of local charities and causes. They’ve had early success, with 278 staff taking part over 2-years. The scheme allows employees to take ownership of volunteering time, and our judges were particularly impressed by the 50/50 annual leave / volunteering time approach, which demonstrates how dedicated to charitable activity the employees volunteering are.
You can’t deny that this is an exciting, bold and ambitious programme, driven by the passion and commitment of employees. It’ll be really interesting to see how it grows, not only internally within the business, but across other businesses as a successful CSR model.
Check into the GGA Good Stuff pages for the rest of our 2018 ones to watch and read all about our 2018 winners, here >>
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
