Since 2020, we have partnered with Lincolnshire County Council for highways, designing roads and flood schemes, and supporting transport planning. They engage in community volunteering, local supply chain spending, and school collaborations.

Location

  • United Kingdom

Client

  • Lincolnshire County Council

Our team members – who are co-located with council colleagues – design new roads, highway improvements and flood alleviation schemes across the county. We also bring in expertise from the broader WSP business to support transport planning, ecology assessments and structures requirements. When bidding for the contract, we committed to engaging in volunteering activities to benefit local communities. Our social value commitment also included supply chain spend with local small and medium-sized enterprises. And we promised to engage with local schools and colleges.

Social value snapshot

We’re living up to this commitment. In 2022 alone, WSP created £348,197.48 of social value in Lincolnshire (pending verification by the Social Value Portal). 

Social value generated in 2022 alone
£348,197
Spent with local suppliers
£75,066
Hours of volunteering
91
in-page-bristol-communities-social-value-2-lincoln

This included: 

  • 11 local staff (generating approximately £289,642 of local economic value)
  • 44 hours of STEM and careers activities
  • 2 apprentices, generating 92 apprentice weeks (a third apprentice is due to join soon)
  • 2 graduates
  • 1 week work experience placement for a Lincoln College student
  • £75,066 spent with local suppliers
  • 4 team members completed training on unconscious bias and equality, diversity and inclusion
  • 91 hours of volunteering
  • £250 WSP Foundation legacy grant to Lincoln Food Bank

Revitalising community recreation space

Our volunteering efforts have focussed on projects that address the shortage of recreation space faced by communities across Lincolnshire. With Balfour Beatty and Colas – whom we work alongside in the Lincolnshire Highways Partnership – also offering volunteering days as part of their contracts, Lincolnshire County Council decided to co-ordinate the collective volunteer days. Councillors were asked to nominate suitable schemes and we helped draw up a shortlist.

One of the projects selected was in Theddlethorpe, where the parish council needed help to clear vegetation and debris from a disused ball court. It had previously been used by a local remote-control car club, who combined tyres, plastic pipes and pallets to make jumps, but it had become overgrown with brambles, moss and conifer trees after the club moved on.

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As social value champion, Richard Hardesty organised volunteers from WSP, Balfour Beatty and Colas – alongside local residents – to clear the ball court in a single day. The team removed all the track edging, pallets and wood from the court before using a combination of hand and power tools to remove all the vegetation. With the ball court now clear, the parish council have applied for LTA funding to turn it into a tennis court.

Another volunteering activity involved revitalising playground equipment at three neighbourhood parks in Caistor. Richard again coordinated other highways partners to maximise the volunteer hours available, as well as working with the council to plan the project. Six colleagues from WSP, three from Lincolnshire County Council and two from Colas worked across two days to prepare and repaint playground equipment to make the playground look fresher, and more vibrant. In total, the team sanded, cleaned and repainted 17 items of play equipment in bright colours, bringing joy to local children.

The scheme is an excellent way to bring benefits to a local community that would ordinarily be hard to achieve. Our play areas in Caistor are well used and just brightening and refreshing them does so much for the wellbeing of our residents, and particularly children in this case. The volunteers worked tirelessly throughout the day to complete the project and we and our residents are very grateful for them giving up their time to help our community.

Helping young people build careers in STEM

As part of their social value commitment, the team has undertaken STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) engagement activities for school pupils and college students. Richard encourages team members to take part in a taster event before applying to become a WSP STEM ambassador. This enables them to ensure they enjoy the role before making a long-term commitment.

Our team has also held careers fairs and events with the Careers & Enterprise Company. They’ve worked with Lincoln College – setting students projects to complement their studies, offering work experience placements and advising the board. And they’ve supported graduates and apprentices on WSP’s development programmes.

Thank you to everyone for all your hard work in supporting our community.

Championing social value

Having an active and engaged champion has been key to creating social value in Lincolnshire. Richard has brought WSP, Balfour Beatty and Colas together to work with the council and amplify the social value created. And in his spare time, Richard volunteers teaching advanced driving courses for IAM RoadSmart, a national road safety charity.

Now Richard and the team are looking forward to creating much more social value in the years ahead. WSP’s £3.8 million per year professional services partner contract with Lincolnshire council is due to run for six years, with a possible extension to 2032. Throughout that time the team will continue to use the TOMs framework to measure and record the social value they generate.

Volunteering and social value have become part of who I am. It’s something I’m very passionate about and I’m keen to inspire even more colleagues to create social value in their local communities.

Other challenges that we have overcome