Elior UK’s campaign aims to elevate social value awareness and unite efforts into a company-wide focus with one vision: to deliver 28,835 days of social value by 2025.
Elior’s Lifetime of Enrichment campaign aims to create a lifetime of social value that impacts every stage of life– mirroring its catering business which spans hospitals, nurseries, education, B&I, stadia, healthcare and care homes. Elior has a target to deliver 28,835 days of social value in the next three years – reflecting the average number of days in a lifetime. Aligned with its established Social Value policy, the Lifetime of Enrichment programme will encompass social, environment and economic values.
Over the years, Elior has delivered a wealth of social value activity across the organisation including apprenticeships, volunteering, fundraising, and working with social enterprises. The caterer wanted to devise a method of consolidating all social value activity into one place that could be monitored, and the impacts measured.
Elior aims to educate every colleague across the business about the role they play in delivering social value. Colleagues can undertake two paid volunteering days per year in addition to getting involved in wider company social value activity such as fundraising or supporting other charity initiatives. The caterer’s nominated charity is The Alzheimer’s Society and Elior has pledged to raise £100k by the end of 2024. Elior will also encourage its employees to get involved in social value activities that its clients are hosting.
To kick start the Lifetime of Enrichment campaign and lead from the front, the senior leadership team at Elior volunteered at Refettorio Felix in London. Refettorio Felix strives to tackle the dual societal issues of food poverty and food waste and offers an open-door, drop-in centre providing a welcoming atmosphere and safe haven for all vulnerable adults to enjoy a three-course lunch, which is freshly prepared from surplus food and served in Refettorio Felix’s dining hall. The team catered for 220 people over their two volunteering days this month.
Elior has been working with Refettorio Felix since 2015 in a number of ways including volunteering, both front of house and in a kitchen takeover creating a menu based on available ingredients, and supplying equipment.
Charlotte Wright, Director of CSR & Wellness at Elior UK said: “The Lifetime of Enrichment campaign defines Elior UK’s coordinated approach to taking account of the economic, social, and environmental impacts of our actions and working together to make a positive difference. Importantly, it aligns everyone in pursuit of one vision.
“There are already many great things going on to support social value; the launch of The Lifetime of Enrichment campaign will mean we now have a way of recording acts of kindness whilst educating and inspiring our colleagues, clients and suppliers to get more involved.”
A dedicated portal has been launched for The Lifetime of Enrichment campaign to allow Elior to track progress in real time and maximise engagement across the business. Accessible via QR code, team members can see collective progress towards the target and the valuable impact they have made. Each quarter, an activity report, containing progress to date and ideas and activities to get involved in, will be produced and shared with all colleagues.
