Our approach and commitments

Groundwork is a federation of independent charities, each working under a single brand to a common strategy. This strategy sets the framework and collective goals that underpin operational decision-making across all parts of Groundwork.  You can read our strategy here.

Within this strategic framework Groundwork Trusts make their own decisions about the projects, programmes and services they develop and deliver. Groundwork UK delivers activities to support Groundwork Trusts by building brand and profile, generating income for local delivery and supporting quality and impact.

The Groundwork Membership Agreement, signed by all members of the federation, sets out the commitments and standards we will meet to ensure we are operating safely, inclusively and sustainably.

Our Commitments

Our federation strategy sets out the principles which will underpin all of our work.

  • We work where there is most need and we can have most impact – prioritising our resources and building partnerships so that we can bring about lasting change.
  • We listen to local voices and empower people – ensuring our work is shaped by those it is designed to benefit and strengthens community assets and infrastructure.
  • We embed equity and inclusion in everything we do – addressing injustice and seeking out a diversity of viewpoints, both in the work we do and the people we employ.
  • We learn from local practice to promote wider change – sharing the lessons from our work so that we can influence policy and contribute to system change.
  • We are collaborative and innovative – forging strong partnerships and working with others to develop new ways of working and achieve greater impact.
  • We are environmental exemplars – championing practical action to combat the climate and nature emergencies and measuring and reducing our own environmental impact.

Safeguarding

As a charity dedicated to supporting people who may be in vulnerable circumstances we are committed to ensuring our operations are delivered safely and that our staff, volunteers and those people we support through our projects and programmes are able to speak freely about any concerns they have. We have a Groundwork-wide commitment to effective safeguarding – including e-safety – and comprehensive complaints and whistleblowing procedures.

Equity, diversity and inclusion

Our work is designed to address the needs of all sections of the community and we provide equal access to our services regardless of people’s backgrounds, circumstances or characteristics. We have national and local working groups promoting equity, diversity and inclusion across our federation and regularly gather feedback from colleagues and communities about our culture and practices to ensure they are as inclusive as possible.

Carbon reduction

Our commitment to sustainable development is core to what we do, and we recognise the importance of leading the way in reducing our own carbon emissions and promoting greener behaviours among our staff teams.  Our carbon footprint for the whole federation in 2023/24 was calculated to be 2,666 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent.  We have set ourselves a target of reducing our footprint from our 2019/20 baseline measure (2,706 tonnes) by 50% by 2035.  Although our footprint is lower on a like-for-like basis than our baseline year we recognise that our path to net zero will not be linear or easy.  Our scope 1 and scope 2 emissions (arising from our own fuel and energy use) have fallen by 20% and 30% respectively, however our scope 3 emissions (which include business mileage, commuting, homeworking and waste) have risen by more than 20%. This is primarily due to more accurate reporting of emissions from our leased office space and homeworking arrangements, but also reflects an increase due to the travel associated with our project delivery.  A significant proportion of this delivery is focused on helping other people save energy and associated carbon emissions through the work of our Green Doctors, or helping businesses reduce their emissions through our Sustainable Business Services.  Last year we helped households and businesses save more than 22,000 tonnes of carbon equivalent emissions.  Continuing to scale up this and our other charitable activities, while also reducing our own footprint is our key challenge and we will report annually on our progress.