High Sheriff urges creative thinking for social action

The county's first citizen, Dean Harris, said operators need to take a wider view of corporate social responsibility which can be more than giving money to charity and good causes.

Mrs Harris, a company director for over 25 years, said there are more ways to help community bodies by lending a hand with administration skills.

She said:“More than 90 per cent of Shropshire’s businesses employ between one and ten people, meaning access to huge pots of money which they can donate to the charity or voluntary sector is not as easy as for bigger companies and corporations.

“While donating funds to charities and organisations is, of course, always welcome and gratefully received – there are so many more ways that businesses can help.

"Third sector organisations can and should be prepared to also drive this process by considering what business skills and practical help and support they might need, for example business mentoring or being a critical friend, rather than solely focusing on fund-raising – and there are definitely ways the voluntary sector can support businesses too, leading to beneficial two-way partnerships.

Marketing

“Often, business owners and their teams have expertise which third-sector organisations can absolutely use and are often crying out for: for example, marketing, IT, accounting, business planning, health and safety, policies, legal advice, coaching, HR or social media management and even storage space, print facilities, meeting space "Being willing and able to share those skills and resources with other organisations can be so valuable – and I’d like to think an increased focus on community due to the pandemic will see more businesses and voluntary or charity sector organisations working together in this way with benefits including skills exchanges, experience in other environments, sharing best practice and positive impacts on the individual in terms of doing good.”

Mrs Harris said there is also the potential to help on a global scale as the United Nations member states17 Sustainable Development Goals (SGDs) programme gets under way to scrutinise businesses.

“I’d like to see much more collaboration between the business and community or voluntary sectors, working together in order to achieve mutually beneficial relationships.

"There are some fantastic examples of large and small organisations out there in Shropshire who are going the extra mile and thinking outside the box in order to ensure that they have a positive impact on the community around them, and on society as a whole.

"Now we need others to become inspired by them so that meaningful and valuable corporate social responsibility programmes become the standard for Shropshire businesses,” she added.

For details contact her on shropshirehs@hotmail.co.uk