The tech industry has had some fascinating conversations, especially ahead of significant events such as COP26. We feel as an industry; we have a big part to play and have an opportunity to make a substantial change.
Our CSR focus centres around four pillars:
- Workplace – we understand the ethical/environmental impact of our day-to-day running of the business;
- Marketplace- co-operating with our clients and the tech industry on positive action;
- Community - aiding charities and other organisations close to our hearts;
- Environment - we understand our environmental impact and work towards reducing our footprint;
Here is a roundup of the last quarter.
Marketplace
Our leadership team ran a sustainability and tech round table with business leaders from Bristol and the Southwest, gathering leaders insights and thoughts towards Sustainability and Technology. As a result, we have now released white papers on the key topics of Networks and Partnerships; Funding for Sustainability and Data-Driven Sustainability. Visit our Insights page and scroll down to the white papers section to read more.
Community
In July, we ran Charity Saturday, which involved some of the team volunteering their Saturday to work on client projects, donating their time and Ghyston's client fee. As a result, we raised over £4,000 on a single day with monies split between our charity of the year BRACE , the RNLI and the Quartet Community Foundation.
With the event's success, we plan to rerun the event later in the year, more towards wintertime when it's less fun to be outside. If you charge clients by the hour/day fee, we highly recommend using this approach to raise money. Kudos to those who took part.
Environment
We've had fun over the last quarter continuing to measure our carbon footprint, and we've been helping Spherics, a Bristol-based company, with BETA testing a new tool that is coming together nicely. Unfortunately, we are not currently legislated (yet) as an SME to monitor our carbon footprint. Still, we feel it's valuable enough to do and hope this insight will help inform decisions on reducing our carbon footprint.
Looking ahead to next Quarter
We are currently organising Step Up for BRACE, where we will see how far the Ghyston team can collectively travel by foot (walking, running) or by bike. The goal is to get everyone active, get outside in the fresh air, and raise some money for BRACE. We will ask people to track their time, distance and activity and track progress through the weeks. Last year we travelled over 2,000km and fundraised over £2,500. We’ve set up a Just Giving Page Any donations are more than welcomed. Let's see if we can smash that target this year!
If you’d like to get in contact to collaborate on any events or have a chat then we’d love to hear from you.
Email - CSR@ghyston.com
Further Reading /Insights
Green Tech South West Bristol based community of tech specialists focused on green tech and sustainability.
Business West Supporting businesses across the region to achieve their sustainability objectives.
