Young People And Communities Need Our Support More Than Ever

Monday, July 26, 2021

Comparing the period February – April 2021 with quarter 1 of 2020 (before the pandemic), the number of young people with a job fell by 311,000. That stark statistic underlines the impact Covid-19 continues to have on communities and the aspirations of young people.

Some sectors of the economy will continue to struggle – but many construction firms have healthy work pipelines and an optimistic future. The housing sector has the task of building over a quarter of a million new homes each year. Covid restrictions also mean that more social and affordable housing will be needed quickly to avert a looming housing crisis.

As far as possible we must convert public and private investment in house building into opportunities for communities and people (particularly young people) who have been most affected.

Social Value In Focus

Delivering social value through every house building project has a clearer focus and an even higher priority. We need to improve opportunities and inclusion, and inspire more people to enter an industry where they can build a career and learn transferable skills.

There’s no doubt that many social value activities suffered during the pandemic. Much of the work we routinely do with schools and colleges simply wasn’t possible. As we emerge from Covid, Osborne is committed to rigorous measurement of the social value we deliver. We’re doing this using Thrive Impact UK.

Armed with accurate data we aim to increase the value of our activities by 10% year on year. In the six months before Covid restrictions, we delivered the following across London and the South East:

153 community initiatives were completed
10,682 local people benefitted
17 local facilities were improved
Our people volunteered 298 hours of their time
£11,869 of materials were donated by us and supply partners.

As we move forward we will be redoubling these efforts, with the residential sector as a key area of focus. Many of our residential projects will be delivered in the heart of communities that have been most affected. And the adoption of new technologies such as our Systemised Housing product offers a greater range of careers and access points for young people. Inspiring people, and helping them to see where those opportunities can take them, remains a priority.

For more information on how Osborne delivers social value through residential construction programmes, contact Mike Peskin ([email protected]).

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