Sustainability

Social

Serving our communities

Our customers, and the communities in which they live, work, play and relax, are at the heart of everything we do.

Meeting our customers' expectations

Whilst our customers don’t have a choice about who provides their water – so they can’t vote with their feet – they quite rightly have the same high expectations of us as
they would any other brand or company.

We are committed to being a role model, within the water and utility sectors and beyond. We already play a key role in the lives of our customers, looking after one of life’s essentials, but we’re committed to do more.

 

 

 

 

What we're doing to help communities

We're helping communities in our region and beyond by:
 
  • Providing education through our innovative educational roadshow
  • Investing 1% profits in community projects through our Community Fund
  • Developing a relationship with Bangladesh through our WaterAid partner

Education – Our Wonderful Water Tour

Our Community Programme

Through our dedicated, sector-leading community programme, we will anticipate and meet the needs of the customers and communities we serve and deliver genuine and wide-reaching environmental and societal benefits.

Supporting our communities through the Coronavirus pandemic

In April 2020 we created and donated £1 million through our  Coronavirus Emergency Fund to over 300 fantastic non-profit organisations that were helping our communities get through such an incredibly difficult time.

The first £500,00 was donated quickly to charities helping the most vulnerable who were experiencing unprecedented demand for their services, including food banks, mental health charities and those providing support for the elderly.

The second half was donated later in the year through our Recovery Fund, to support the charities themselves that had suffered financially through the pandemic - helping them to get back on their feet and continue delivering their services.

We know though the impacts of the pandemic are still being felt by many charities and organisations who are continuing to deliver vital services to our communities. So, we’re continuing our support in 2021 and allocating some of our Community Fund to support with Coronavirus recovery.

Putting customers and communities first

We’re committed to ensuring we always put our customers and communities first whenever we carry out our essential work.

Between 2020 and 2025, we’ll be investing over £2 billion to improve our customers’ water and waste services. We recognise there is never an ideal time to carry out major improvement work, as often our pipes are in roads - which means roadworks.

Before we carry out any planned work we will always contact our customers in advance, and often hold public exhibitions to give customers the opportunity to discuss the work. We keep customers up to date through a dedicated webpage.