FEATURE
Cheque this out - SABIC staff have carried out a range of environmental work at RSPB Saltholme .
Equipment has also been donated to this community group , with SABIC employees giving up a day of their weekend to help clear a significant number of tyres and bags of litter from the beach .
SABIC has previously donated equipment to Friends of Redcar and Marske Litter Action Group .
Safe demolition donations A decade of work to demolish redundant parts of SABIC ’ s infrastructure at both its Wilton and North Tees sites was completed with an excellent safety record of 1.2m hours of accident-free working , meaning significant charity donations of up to £ 20,000 were made throughout the period to mark safety milestones across the site .
There was also an impressive 98 per cent recycling rate for the removed materials .
Education SABIC ’ s education liaison team has reached out to more than 2,000 school , college and university students over the last year , with the aim of raising the profile of the process industry in schools and promoting careers in STEM ( science , technology , engineering , maths )
Activities undertaken include hosting site tours and careers events for primary schoolchildren , attending career fairs in secondary schools , offering mentoring and work experience days and hosting engineering undergraduates from local universities .
Community engagement and support SABIC has an annual employee charity fund of £ 10,000 , through which colleagues can nominate a local charity close to their hearts . Charities recently supported via the fund include the CAUSE Foundation , RNLI Redcar , Great North Air Ambulance , the South Tees Hospital Fund , Zoe ’ s Place and many more .
SABIC also sponsored the inaugural MFC Foundation Memory Walk , raising awareness of dementia and supporting people on Teesside suffering with the condition .
SABIC is a long-standing supporter of Zoe ’ s Place with more than £ 70,000 donated to the baby hospice in recent years . The company is also helping to fund a pediatric garden project at James Cook University Hospital and a community garden project in Dormanstown .
SABIC ’ s volunteering policy enables good works to be undertaken in the locality – the maintenance team gave in-kind support to St Cuthbert ’ s Church in Wilton Village with the removal of an old oil storage tank from the cellar of the building , draining and safely disposing of the oil and associated scrap metal .
A series of coffee mornings across SABIC plant and office areas raised £ 4,000 for Macmillan Cancer Care and volunteers from the health and wellbeing group raised £ 1,000 to help Andy ’ s Man Club provide support for men ’ s mental health across Teesside .
SABIC is a long-standing supporter of the annual Redcar & Cleveland Inspiring Women Awards , which shine a spotlight on women overcoming difficulties to make a difference in their local community . The firm also sponsored the Charity / Volunteer category at the Tees Businesswomen Awards 2023 .
Headline figures for 2023 are : > £ 100,000 to local organisations through in-kind support .
> More than 2,000 schoolchildren / students reached and engaged with through the firm ’ s education liaison team volunteering efforts .
> More than 50 local organisations and community groups supported by the employees ’ £ 10,000 charity fund .
> More than £ 50,000 contributed to community events and local charities .
> 3,500 hours given in volunteering .
Claire Wordsworth , senior communications business partner , said : “ SABIC ’ s heritage on Teesside goes back to ICI days , with some employees having family members over several generations who have worked on the site . Colleagues and their families are truly rooted in the area and extremely passionate about supporting local communities across Teesside in all sorts of ways .
“ SABIC has a robust corporate and social responsibility and volunteering programme , with a strong belief that we are in a privileged position to help others .
“ Despite being a global organisation , it ’ s sometimes the smaller projects inspired by small teams of volunteers that can mean the most . Whether it ’ s time given or financial support , we are extremely proud and grateful to our employees who generously give up their free time to volunteer or fundraise for some incredibly worthy causes on Teesside .”
The voice of business in the Tees region | 37