Corporate Social Responsibility Strategy - Swan Housing Association

OUR CORE COMMITMENTS ‐ EXPLAINED1. EDUCATION,TRAINING AND EMPLOYMENTFor Swan, CSR means we want to invest and empower our communities through theprovision of high quality training and employment opportunities. We do this throughworking closely with our stakeholders and partners to ensure training andemployment opportunities are realistic and sustainable and meet the needs of ourcommunities.Activity• Creating a local labour policy and measuring outputs• Promoting and encouraging apprenticeships• Engaging with and supporting apprentices on Craylands• Employment of graduate trainees• Creating employment workshops• Establishing work placements• Optimising Swan Foundation’s role2. COMMUNITY COHESIONFor Swan, CSR is inextricably linked to equality and diversity. The link is evident in theway we care for our staff; the environments we work in; and the way we interact andwork with our residents. It can also be seen in Swan’s fair and transparentgovernance processes; in providing opportunities for potential apprentices; andthrough ensuring our projects meet local labour policies. It is important to Swan tobe able to account for these activities through our partners and to demonstrate ourgood practice to our staff, residents, local communities and working with localauthorities.Activity• Implementing our diversity policy and communicating it to all staff4

• Establishing diversity action forums in each department• Establishing resident consultative committees and ensuring residents arerepresented on boards• Carrying out resident satisfaction surveys and increasing satisfaction year on year• Supporting projects that increase community cohesion3. ENVIRONMENTSwan’s commitment to sustainability means ensuring our activities help improvequality of life for people today while considering the needs of future generations.Swan views sustainability as a core element of CSR. Thus, creating and implementinga carefully considered, successful CSR strategy is essentially about Swan holding itselfaccountable for the impacts our operations have on the environment and society, inthe broadest sense of the terms, thereby improving the sustainability of our activities.This brings benefits to Swan and our stakeholders (including staff, residents and localcommunities) including economic benefits, increased stakeholder satisfaction andsafeguarding the environments Swan operates in.Our Swan Commitment on Sustainability is to:• Minimise carbon emissions• Reduce resource consumption• Continually improve sustainable design of our homes• Enhance and support wellbeing of our communitiesActivity• Building new homes to Code for Sustainable Homes levels 3, 4 and 6, includinginstalling (for example) photovoltaic panels on roofs and eco‐friendly white goods• Implementing and maintaining ISO 14001 Environmental Management System• Establishing an organization wide green team to ensure each departmentmonitors and implements our sustainability strategy.5

4. HEALTH, WELLBEING AND SPORTSwan recognises that health, wellbeing and sport are crucial to supporting ourcommunities in all aspects of their lives. Swan engages with the communities itserves to establish what they need and how best to meet those needs. Swan alsorecognizes the impact of health inequalities in our communities and strives tosupport projects that improve lives.Activity• Funding a healthy eating project for residents• Supporting the development of football teams amongst residents on our estates• Supporting the ‘Carry a Ball not a Blade’ project across Tower Hamlets• Creating an arts project in Tower Hamlets• Providing Anti‐Bullying materials within schoolsDELIVERING THROUGH THE SWAN FOUNDATIONSwan Foundation is a charity dedicated to improving people's lives. Through our work,we build partnerships with businesses to invest in communities and turn aspirationsinto reality.The Foundation has been set up to improve the quality of life for people indisadvantaged neighbourhoods. We join forces with companies and organisations tomake a real difference for people living in these neighbourhoods.The Swan Foundation delivers practical solutions to help create healthy, vibrant andsustainable communities, to improve the life of our residents.Swan Foundation aims to:• be a catalyst for positive change• change the way people think• overcome social and economic barriers• make it easy for people to get involved• dedicate 100% of resources received to the community6

Empowering People in CommunitiesSwan Foundation is a charitable organisation set up to help communities achievemore for themselves. We work with our partners to remove the obstacles that holdpeople back.Challenging exclusionIn partnership with businesses we aim to address the challenges of regeneration insocially and economically excluded areas. One part of this is helping people overcomethe obstacles to success. These obstacles cover many aspects of people's lives andthe priorities we have set reflect that.Our prioritiesWe encourage partners to contribute to positive action in four priority areas:• Education, training and employment• Community cohesion• Environment• Health, wellbeing and sportOur missionTo develop and build the capacity of those people living in socially and economicallydisadvantaged communities in Essex and East London to enable the regeneration ofdisadvantaged areas: relieving poverty; increasing employment prospects; andreducing the effects of economic and social exclusion.Our approachWe work in partnership with forward‐thinking businesses and organisations to domore for disadvantaged people and neighbourhoods.Working with partners for changeBy working with our partners on new and exciting projects we will be able to help7

those most in need. We aim to support residents, build cohesive communities andhelp individuals realise their potential.Our concordance agreementWe work through Concordance, an agreement between Swan Foundation and itspartners, to make a difference in people's lives. It enables us to build partnershipswith different businesses and create new approaches to corporate socialresponsibility (CSR). We aim to raise people's aspirations and that means beingambitious.Concordance is about more than building partnerships. It's a promise that everythingwe gain from partners, whether it is time, money, advice or facilities, will be used forthe benefit of local communities.Partner commitment and expertiseThrough Concordance we will bring investment and expertise from partnercompanies into the neighbourhoods where it's really needed. The agreement willlead to partnerships that will benefit people in disadvantaged communities andpeople in the organisations we work with.How the programme works• We support investment in the development of the people in our organisations:we all have staff that could benefit from using some of their time and expertiseto work with our communities.• We involve residents directly in the development of their communities, from thedesign of homes and neighbourhoods to health and social enterprise initiatives.• We conduct our business in such a way as to promote a sustainable environmentfor current and future generations; reducing waste, emissions and discharge inthe construction of our properties, for instance, and taking the lead in thedevelopment of energy efficient, affordable housing.• We build working relationships with contractors, suppliers and partners whobenefit our residents and communities.• We act as a broker for organisations that wish to work collectively to provideactivities that improve residents' lives and support them in their futureaspirations.8

Long‐term resultsWe want to make sure that the investment we make reaches the neighbourhoodsand communities that need it most. And most importantly that this investment issustainable and will deliver long‐term results. Our objective first and foremost is todeliver lasting changeENGAGEMENT AND COMMUNICATIONSSwan recognizes that engagement and empowering communities can only berealized if staff understand community needs and respond appropriately, We alsoknow we need to understand who are communities are; their aspirations and thechallenges they face.Engaging and empowering communities• Encouraging regular feedback from our residents and acting on it• Communicating regularly with residents• Ensuring resident engagement through the resident consultative committees• Continuing improvement in meeting regeneration bid promises• Working with social enterprises• Capturing sustainable outcomes through the work of the Swan FoundationEngaging and empowering staff• Implementing a mentoring programme• Increasing staff volunteering• Implementing an organizational development strategy• Delivering training on customer care, equality and diversity and implementingthe ‘right first time’ programme9