Community relationships are a vital part of our corporate responsibility approach and we continue to build on our relationship with Bucks Mind and support them in targeted strategic activities.  When our partnership was highlighted recently in the Buckinghamshire Business First Newsletter, Andrew McCubbin stated: 

“Our belief at Monodraught is that motivating our staff, maintaining their loyalty and ultimately getting more value from them is much more than just measuring and presenting management metrics, having a strong Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) policy is essential. A key element of our CSR policy is partnering with a charity - and this isn’t the domain of only big companies.

It was essential for us that we did not want to interact with a charity purely to make us feel good or so that we can be viewed by our customers as doing something philanthropic. Charities are much more than ‘nice organisations’ that do ‘good things’. They are a brand with customer journeys and commercial value, the same as corporates like ourselves. They also carefully measure their social impact and have to be acutely financially aware. The benefit of partnering with a charity is a two-way relationship and maintaining that balance is essential for any successful partnership.”

Below are three of the recent activities we are working together on.

Volunteer time-matching

Two staff members volunteer regularly for the charity and their time is matched by the company.

• Apollo art group, High Wycombe – Our Marketing Manager Melissa is able to use her creativity by supporting one of the weekly art groups.  She enjoys participating in the various activities as well as getting to know the group.
• Befriending service – Our Commercial Manager Jackie has recently joined the Aylesbury be-friending team which offers both one to one and group support to adults who are lonely or isolated as a result of mental illness.

Mental health school assembly tour

With concerns around mental health of children in schools frequently being discussed in the media, we are glad to be able to support Buckinghamshire Mind with their latest endeavour.  The team are embarking on a tour of local assemblies talking to children about mental health and providing strategies for coping with stress.

During the assemblies, Training and Education Assistant Lucy Fisher, who recently appeared on CBBC’s Newsround talking about her experiences of mental health and is the face of a new CBBC website helping children to understand mental health and know how to access support, will be sharing her experience and introducing children to these resources.

Through age-appropriate information, engaging activities and an inspiring, positive approach, children will go away with more confidence to speak up about feelings, be able to recognise stigma and bullying, and have new strategies for coping with stress and building resilience.

VKR Community Investment Programme supports art group

We are part of the VKR Holding group which is a limited holding and investment company that aims to create value through financial investments and ownership of companies that bring daylight, fresh air and a better environment into people's everyday lives.  We recently applied for additional funding through their community support programme.  It was with great pleasure that we heard we had received approval for the art group to buy supplies.  This includes a pc to help support the teachers when planning and delivering the programme for the year.  We have also donated some office furniture to the High Wycombe office.  Read more about other community programmes the foundation supports.

Monodraught are committed to working in an ethical and responsible manner, you can read more about our CSR activities or download our infographic.