Oliver & Co Solicitors - Corporate Social Responsibility & The West Cheshire Foodbank
Legal Hour on Dee
Thursday, 7 December 2023 - 18 minutes
In December's Legal Hour, with Oliver & Co Solicitors, Brittany Evans from their Conveyancing Department spoke to Gavin Matthews in the Dee Morning Show.
Also joining them was Ian Oultan, who is a Trustee of the West Cheshire Foodbank.
Corporate social responsibility – what is it and why is it important?
Corporate social responsibility is a way for companies to be socially accountable for the impact they have on the wider community.
It is an ethical and sustainable business practice which has positive impacts on the local community.
It is also a positive way to enhance Employee Engagement and morale whilst also bringing brand recognition.
We currently have a CSR Team, who attend regular meetings to discuss our firm wide programmes of events, monitor our progress and suggest new ideas of how we can serve our community.
We have a Charity of the Year – each financial year it is put to a vote throughout the firm of who we wish for the COTY to be.
Why West Cheshire foodbank?
How often do you go home after a long day at work and stand staring at the fridge or the cupboards, wondering what you fancy to eat? Or what restaurant you can go to? Chances are quite often. For people living in Crisis, this is only something to dream of.
As solicitors working within the property market, we understand the difficulties with the current economic climate. But for some people, having to choose between heating their home or feeding their family, should not be something anyone should have to face.
How have we as a firm helped the foodbank over the last year?
All of us here at Oliver and Co felt like we needed to do more. Last Christmas, we decided we were not going to do the annual Secret Santa where we buy each other gifts, but instead, do a Secret Santa for those who need it most. We brainstormed and decided to set a budget of £10 each, came up with age groups of children from 0 – 16 years old and all staff were nominated a specific age group. We then went out and got a mixture of presents for our particular age group. Everyone in the firm loved this idea and decided to get involved. – collected 33 gifts for children
We also did a firm wide ’12 days of Christmas’ calendar, whereby we had a calendar for 12 days of December, each with one of the Food Banks most needed food and toiletry items, and everyday staff, family, friends, and even members of our networking groups donated stacks and stacks of items in for the foodbank. This boosted staff morale massively and everyone loved to be involved which led to us then choosing the foodbank to be our charity of the year for 2023/24.
We have held numerous other fundraisers this year such as ‘Miles for Meals’ whereby we had static bikes outside the office to raise funds for the foodbank.
Regular Car Park Raffle for staff to raise funds.
Bake Sales
We have had collection boxes throughout the office all year round with different monthly themes to keep up staff engagement.
We are doing the same this Christmas – as well as donating advent calenders for all the children.
What struggles are west Cheshire Foodbank Faced with currently?
We are bracing ourselves for this coming Winter as we anticipate soaring demand - in the 6 months to October 23 we have received 1107 new referrals in this area seeking foodbank help for the first time. Thats a scary number and we haven’t got into the winter months yet.
In the last few months, we have had to purchase food to keep up with demand to the tune of £6k per month on average - this is not sustainable. Our warehouse is looking quite sparse at a time when it should have been filled with the harvest food appeals - we just don’t know what levels of food donations we will get this year as times are so tough for lots of people - although local folk are so generous!
How can we (the public) get involved?
We are currently discussing becoming a local donation point for the Food Bank, meaning anyone can come into reception and leave items with us. To be honest- anyone is welcome to do this anyway!
However, if you can’t get to our offices, there is a tonne of information on the West Cheshire Foodbank website, which includes a list of their most needed items, and local drop off points. They also do have a van where they will come by and do collections – so local business/workers feel free to suggest this in your next team meetings – it has really made us come together as a firm.
There are also plenty of volunteering opportunities, if you can only offer your time, please contact the Food Bank direct to find out how you can help them!
You can find out more about Oliver & Co Solicitors here:
https://www.oliverandco.co.uk/
