Social Value at Twickenham- Building Relationships in our Communities
“We are driven by leaving a lasting legacy and the foundations for future success. Every day, with every project, we renew our commitment to our communities, our people and the environment. This approach is captured through our core value ‘Caring’ but it is bought to life by our teams who are responsible for delivering our projects for our customers. A key part to delivering social value in the communities that we work within is to build relationships with local organisations and support them in achieving their objectives.
In Twickenham, transformation plans have seen Osborne extend the station and remodel around a brand new public plaza. The station will feature lifts to the platforms, improvements to the pedestrian walkway, a significantly larger ticket office and additional cycle spaces. The new plaza will include new shops and create a modern gateway to Twickenham, and will include the creation of 115 new apartments.
The team responsible for transforming the built environment around Twickenham Station is led by our Senior Project Manager, Chris Hickman. He has also focussed on building relationships with the local community. These are just a few examples of social value outcomes for this project.
Shooting Star Children’s Hospice – Hosting two Golf Days, and with the help of our supply chain Osborne has raised over £39,000 for the hospice. In May our contribution to the Charity was recognised by the award of “New Corporate Partner” for 2018.
FORCE (Friends of the River Crane Environment), a local charity, benefitted from a river clean up in an event organised and attended by Solum, Osborne and supply chain partners.
After arranging safe access along the bank and into the river, we removed over 100 Kilos of litter and rubbish from the river. We also planted 2000 English blue bell bulbs along the riverbank.
Richmond upon Thames College – We have built a relationship with the College, offering their students an opportunity to learn about the built environment through our work experience programme. Alison Jones, Employment and Skills Coordinator at the College explained, “The work placements provided have given young people an invaluable opportunity to utilise their college training. They gained additional insight on the latest sector practises used in a real world setting under the expert supervision of Osborne’s industry professionals.”
St Mary’s Primary School – Students from St Mary’s were invited to draw some pictures either of what they believe the railways will look like in the future or some pictures of Twickenham. The students and staff were then invited to attend site and with the assistance of Osborne staff pin up these drawings on to the hoarding of our site office compound.
On each of our projects, our social value KPIs are more than just data, more than targets. These social value outcomes are real opportunities making a real difference to people’s lives.”
by Caroline Compton-James.
