CALA Group has launched a major initiative set to transform the way it supports the communities in which it builds.
Cala’s Community Pledge will see bespoke programmes of activity created for each Cala development. The Pledges will have a positive, measurable impact on thousands of people across the UK as they are rolled out this year.
Each Pledge will be developed by teams on the ground, informed by direct dialogue with each local community and going above and beyond any planning obligations. A host of tailored measures will be incorporated into each Pledge, addressing specific community needs including donations, volunteering, learning programmes, support initiatives and much more.
The Community Pledge is an evolution of the many successful community programmes Cala has introduced over the years, including its Community Bursary which has provided over £400,000 worth of funding to a wide range of organisations and projects within communities across Scotland and England.
The Community Pledge will go one step further by bringing bespoke, meaningful benefit to neighbourhoods through investing in and enhancing the very essence of what brings a community together.
The Pledges will include Cala’s new schools’ initiative, Land to Life, Showhome of Support – which supports local talent and businesses, and Stay Safe, Stay Away, a Health and Safety learning programme to raise awareness amongst young people of the dangers of playing on building sites.
Eight Pledges have been formed so far and include initiatives such as a rugby club refurbishment, Breathing Space bench donations, funding for IT lessons with Age UK, accessible playground equipment and more. Anything communities identify as a local need will be considered, from defibrillator donations or support for local food banks, to community clean ups and more.
The initiative will have Cala’s core values at its heart, such as sustainability, community enrichment, wellbeing, inclusion and diversity, translating these into community action. The Community Pledge will form an integral part of Cala’s business strategy, brand and day-to-day operations, as a core element of its Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) commitments. Its results will be audited and reported on in a more robust way than ever before, to demonstrate genuine impact.
Kathryn Dapré, Head of Sustainability at Cala Group, said: “It is an incredibly exciting year ahead for Cala with the launch of the Community Pledge. This represents a more meaningful and targeted approach to community support – evolving stand-alone initiatives to a much more holistic, impact-led range of support.
“The Pledge puts our community commitments at the very core of our business and ensures we work more closely than ever before with communities so they get the support they really need from us.
“The initiative will continue to support our vision of Cala ‘building a place to be proud of’, not just across our developments, but within our business. Promoting a culture that values giving back and enabling employees to make a positive difference is so important, and the Community Pledge offers an opportunity for our teams to get involved and make a real, long-term impact in the communities we’re operating in.”
As the business’ biggest focus on communities to date, Cala’s ambition is that a Community Pledge will be established for every new and upcoming Cala development before extending to all existing developments with a lifespan of two years or more remaining.
John Richards, Land and Planning Director for Cala Homes (Thames) and member of the Community Pledge team for Thames, said: “The Community Pledge is all about committing to the areas we are building in and ensuring that Cala is a force for good, not only from a place making perspective, but by actually becoming part of the communities in which we build.
“This gives communities, and our partners such as local authorities, subcontractors and landowners, faith that we will not only deliver high quality and sensitively designed homes, but that we’ll bring added value and leave a lasting positive legacy.”
Cala’s Community Bursary, which will now form part of the Community Pledge, has allowed Cala to support more than 400 projects since it first launched in 2016.
For more information on the Community Pledge visit https://www.cala.co.uk/social-value/community-pledge/
