We take great pride in social value schemes linked to our projects, helping groups and people living near our development projects with donations of funds, materials, or staff time and expertise.

This has included numerous donations to schools and charitable groups, maintenance work in community buildings, installing heart defibrillation devices and wildlife boxes.

We also place great emphasis on working with educational establishments to explain to young people what we do as a business and encourage careers in the construction industry. When we carry out projects in schools, we often hold assemblies to update pupils on the progress and involve them in the process as much as possible.

Each year, we host several work placements from local schools and colleges, regularly attend career fairs and participate in mock interview opportunities to inspire the next generation of construction workers.

We commit to engaging at least 85% of subcontractors from the local area on all of our projects, allowing us to deliver local employment opportunities and select partners for our projects based on locality, experience, performance, and specialism.

Here are some examples of how we have made a difference through our involvement:

• -The National 3 Peaks Challenge which saw our team take on Ben Nevis, Scafell Pike and Snowdon all within 24h to raise funds for the Lighthouse Construction Industry Charity.
• -The Welsh 3 Peaks Challenge and Welshpool 10K to raise money for the Ponthafren Association.
• -The Longest Golf Day Challenge and Coffee Mornings raising money for Macmillan Cancer Support.
• -Shropshire Mud Run raising money for Wales Air Ambulance Charity.
• -Staff volunteering time to assist Severn Hospice with gardening  maintenance and improvements.
• -Entering a team in the Severn Hospice Dragon Boat Race.
• -Walking the Welsh Coastal Walking Route from Ynyslas to Llangrannog, and taking the 10,000 steps challenge, also to raise funds for Severn Hospice.
• -Our team member participated in the Great North Run, a half marathon, in aid of Shine Charity.
• -Ongoing Sponsorship to Welshpool Town Football Club.
• -Financial donations to: Armed Forces Day in Dudley, Shine Charity, Circus Starr, Christmas Jumper Day-Save the Children UK, Montgomery Wildlife Trust, Welshpool 1940s weekend, Berriew Show, Monty Lit Fest, Welshpool Rugby Club and local food bank donations.

September 2019 saw the launch of the SWG Construction Academy in partnership with Llanfyllin High School. The academy has been a huge success, with specialists from all parts of SWG Group offering regular tuition to GCSE Construction in the Built Environment students in areas such as bricklaying, carpentry, CV workshops, estimating and quantity surveying, plumbing, electrical, plastering and decoration.

This pioneering initiative is the first step to encouraging students into the construction industry and has been very popular, with a growing number of female students starting to attend the course.

Robi Wood, director of learning for technology at Ysgol Llanfyllin, said: “The Academy has worked tremendously, the students have responded positively and have built a rapport with the SWG experts in each lesson.”

The success of the SWG Academy was recognised in 2022 when we were shortlisted in the education category at the national Inspiring Change Awards which recognises organisations which have created a more inclusive culture.