21 April 2016

The Costain Group this week launched ‘Hour Pledge’, a new charitable initiative which asks its staff to donate 10,000 hours of their working time to good causes in 2016.

Employee volunteering is one of Costain’s community focused sustainability priorities for 2016, as outlined in the Company’s recently published Sustainability Strategy. The strategy brings together the 'Engineering Tomorrow' business strategy and 'Costain Cares', which represents its values, behaviours and corporate responsibility, into 'Engineering a Sustainable Tomorrow'.

The strategy is based on Costain’s four sustainability goals: ensuring Costain is a safe and great place to work; creating a better environment; supporting local communities and leaving a positive lasting legacy; and finally, providing better solutions for the marketplace.

'Hour Pledge’ focuses on supporting local communities using the energy and passion of Costain’s employees. It’s a tall order but each member of staff is already entitled to take two paid days of volunteering leave per year, but if 25% of Costain’s staff donate just eight hours of their time in 2016, they will have contributed over 10,000 hours to support good causes.

For example, Steve Ellis, the Community Relations Officer on the £88 million A160/A180 Port of Immingham Improvement Scheme, recently arranged a number of volunteering events for the Costain team, including helping in the construction of a new Garden of Remembrance at Immingham Cemetery in Lincolnshire.

The five volunteers - John Harris, Dan Hand, Marcus Plume, Pat Cahill and Tom King – spent two days clearing the ground and laying the foundation stones.

“When Immingham Town Council asked for help in building a new memorial garden, Costain gladly answered the call,” said Steve.

Immingham Town Mayor, Cllr. Dave Barton, added: “We are delighted to have Costain working with us. The Garden of Remembrance is just one project which they have helped us with. We couldn’t have done it without them. It leaves a lasting legacy, and long after Costain have moved on from the A160 project, this will still be here for residents to appreciate.”

‘Hour Pledge’ builds on the incredible success of the Costain 150 Challenge, which raised over £1m in 2015 for the Costain Charitable Foundation. Volunteering can take place for any charity or good cause and Costain will regularly communicate volunteering opportunities from the charities.

James York, Costain’s Corporate Responsibility Manager, said:

“What we achieved in 2015 with the Costain 150 Challenge was staggering. So we maintain that momentum, we are again relying on the generosity of our staff to make a real difference in their local communities. 10,000 hours is a challenging target but if the successful fundraising efforts of 2015 are anything to go by, I am confident everyone at Costain will rise to meet the Hour Pledge.”

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