In 2023, Costain’s dedicated community relations team on the A1 Birtley to Coal House project successfully secured £76,476.81 to fund bespoke community projects.
National Highways Major Projects established a social value fund available to all of its schemes across the UK to support local community projects. The fund, totalling £220,000 per year (divided equally between the North and South schemes), empowers communities by providing financial support for projects up to £10,000 each. In 2023, we supported community projects in the North to access £76,476.81 split across 10 projects. To date, we have helped to secure over £87,170.50 since December 2022 across 13 projects.
By actively collaborating with National Highways and local stakeholders about the available funding, utilising our deep understanding of the communities in which we operate, and working with these groups to develop, progress and gain the approval of applications, we ensured the success of community projects, such as the installation of a defibrillator at Lamesley Church Hall in June 2023. Lamesley Church Hall is the centre of the community and a hub for residents holding activities across the week from fitness classes for the elderly to childcare sessions. Every minute delay in defibrillation results in a reduced chance of survival, which is especially problematic in rural communities. Without the funding secured by our community engagement team, they would not have been able to install the defibrillator at the Church Hall, which addresses the long rural response time in a cardiac emergency and could potentially be lifesaving.
Another application for social value funding was the Birtley East Community Garden, which received £8,000 to transform the school’s community garden space over the summer holidays. The garden is now a perfect place for children to play outdoors and get involved with growing and tending to plants.