29/11/2017
Jaguar Land Rover Sponsor Community Champion Category at Express & Star Business Awards 2018
Committed to getting involved with community
Jaguar Land Rover’s Engine Manufacturing Centre is one of the area’s major employers, having recruited over 1400 employees over the last three years.
Our support for the Community Champion Award reflects our own commitment to get involved and contribute to the area in which many of the people working at the facility live, learn and socialise.
The awards aim to give recognition to businesses that we are proud to call our near neighbours, for the efforts they make in supporting a variety of charities and other organisations. As a consequence they also shed light on the determination of our local charities to support those in need, across a variety of different spectrums.
We’d like to encourage as many of you as possible to not only concentrate on volunteering and getting involved in your community and supporting local organisations, but also shout about what you are doing.
Without a voice, no-one can see the incredible work that you are undertaking and the commitment of your fantastic staff to some amazingly worthwhile causes.
So don’t miss out on entering the 2018 awards. We look forward to reading the entries, but not so much making the difficult decision of who will be the winner.
For now though, we’d like to share with you a project that we’ve undertaken aimed at supporting our chosen charity, Midlands Air Ambulance Charity (MAAC) We hope it inspires you to share your stories and enter the Express & Star Business Awards.
The Recent Past
In 2015, we asked our employees to provide us with their nominations for a charity or organisation that could form the focal point to our fundraising activities at the EMC. This was the start of our own Corporate Social Responsibility journey and one which has grown and developed over the last couple of years, in line with the wider CSR commitment of Jaguar Land Rover.
As a business Jaguar Land Rover is committed to supporting its employees to volunteer and lead projects local to them. Many undertake projects that are close to their heart, some just like to get involved to give something back and feel passionately about making a contribution.
We had a variety of suggestions from our call to arms, all of which were reviewed by a cross-functional team, who we call the People Committee. As a result, three finalists were chosen. Then came the big vote. We placed voting stations across the facility to give as many people as possible the opportunity to vote for their preferred organization. It really was a close run competition, with MAAC emerging as the winner.
The Current
Since then we’ve been proud to support the organisation, which has its headquarters in Stourbridge.
It’s been a two-way partnership, they’ve helped us by attending our very first Employee Family Open Day and regularly visit us on site, to help raise awareness of what they do. Likewise we’ve encouraged our employees to look at fundraising activities, to support them. Our super-fundraising Conrad Westwood, who works in our Diesel Assembly Hall, has taken part in a number of activities, including completing the gruelling Ride 100 Prudential Challenge, the Conrad Canter (although others will know it as the Coven Canter) and many more. He’s also just signed up for his latest adventure and plans to take part in the Velothon Wales in July 2018, so he’s training hard.
We’ve also recently completed a volunteering project with MAAC as part of our annual 12 Days of Christmas Campaign, which saw members of the EMC team help with the packaging of Christmas merchandise and collection tins. Being process driven, the volunteers managed to clear a backlog of orders and it was a really fun activity for team-building.
Our Legacy
However, by far the biggest project that we’ve undertaken on behalf of MAAC has been our Legacy Wall, situated at the facility in the link corridor between our production areas.
The EMC’s Machining Manufacturing Manager, Jon Stanley came up with the idea, having been inspired by a similar project at Birmingham Children’s Hospital. As part of the first phase, we asked the EMC workforce to provide an inspirational message that could be displayed on a brushed aluminium-style plaque on a wall, along with their name, for a minimum donation to MAAC. It was open to all employees and the resulting money raised topped £3,000 for the charity. MAAC and Jaguar Land Rover Ambassador Sir Lee Pearson CBE, alongside special guests from MAAC, unveiled the wall at an event earlier this year. It’s proved a fantastic focal point for employees and visitors alike, who stop and read the messages. It’s also a reminder of where we were, where we are and where we hope to be, as the facility grows and we recruit more people.
Going forward we’ll be launching the second phase of our Legacy Wall, hoping to raise even more money and engage more people in our workforce so they can understand the impact that their Legacy has on others, internally and externally.
The Future
Over the last two years we’ve raised over £14,000 for Midlands Air Ambulance Charity. This equates to around five life-saving missions.
However, being a good community champion isn’t just about money.
People and time are the biggest assets that a business can give. So let’s get inspired to support even more projects.
For us, being part of a community, is about giving something back, not simply by employing local people, but seeking out opportunities and being fully integrated in all aspects of the community.
And of course, we’d really like to hear about some of the amazing work that others are doing, by entering these awards you not only shed light on your achievements, but also raise awareness of the charities that you support.
So get involved, get inspired and get drafting. We look forward to reading your submission.