Severn Trent's Corporate Responsibility Committee oversees the Group's community investment
and charitable donations strategy.
Our community investment programme focuses on three areas:
- The natural environment
- Education
- Building communities
In 2006/07 STW spent approximately £845,000 on community investment. Over 2006/07 we have been reviewing our community strategy to ensure that communities receive best value from our activities. We measure our community investment using the London Benchmarking Group's (LBG's) methodology.
A group of volunteers from an STW Water Centre in Leicester wanted to do something about the disappearance of wildflower meadows from the British countryside. At the same, they wanted to help and involve the local community with their idea.
The team devised an ambitious plan to plant four publicly-accessible sites within Leicestershire with 4,000 wildflowers. They wanted to use the project to educate inner-city schoolchildren about the environment, and to raise money for the Leicester-based charity, Wishes for Kids, which grants wishes to seriously ill children. The first step was to find business and community partners for the scheme. The regional newspaper, the Leicester Mercury, ran a series of articles about all aspects of the campaign. Two local prisons planted and cultivated all 4,000 plants. Leicestershire County Council agreed that the wildflowers could be planted at four country parks in the county.
In addition, STW volunteers worked with four primary schools in government-designated deprived areas, planting flowers in the school grounds. Teaching staff followed this up with lessons on the environment and wildflowers. Lastly, the Leicestershire public joined in, for the idea of the project was that they would buy a tray of three plants for £5, and plant them at the four chosen sites on two weekends in October 2006. The money raised was then donated to Wishes for Kids. One 93-year-old woman bought £100 of flowers, saying she remembered the wonderful colours and smells of wildflower meadows when she was a girl, and wanted to do her bit for the children of the future.
The scheme inspired many people, and its benefits were widespread. Wishes for Kids gained invaluable support and publicity; children at the four schools learned to cultivate plants, and gained a more colourful environment; prisoners learned horticultural techniques and were able to put something back into the community; and the Leicester Mercury, Leicestershire City Council, and Severn Trent Water were able to demonstrate their care for the local environment. As the flowers are planted in public land, the public can appreciate the meadows any time they want.
