B&Q plc - Supporting Community Regeneration

One programme aims to tackle local issues around improving the environment and people’s lives and is delivered by local B&Q employees.

By offering their stores as learning centres e.g. to teach people DIY skills they are able to provide opportunities for learning in a mainstream and friendly, non-threatening environment.

This has proved an innovative way to match B&Q in-kind resources to meet the needs of the community, particularly for people who wish to develop their skills and confidence, e.g. long-term unemployed or older people.

As well as realising clear benefits for the community, this programme has proved to have major business benefits, with new themes and initiatives emerging all the time that build on success. Community development and business-to-business teams have developed local authority and housing provider business, including a voucher scheme for new low-income tenants.

A recently introduced corporate work placement policy has been developed as a direct result of our experience of working with disadvantaged or marginalised groups through our community regeneration programme

Sure Start, Sandwell and B&Q Wednesbury project provided 12 sessions over five weeks for nine women - to increase confidence, enable people to contribute to the learning programme, and build on this in the future.

Three recent pilots in Southampton and the Isle of Wight have realised a potential to support SMEs linked to their trade development. The initiative will take the form of a membership type forum, such as a breakfast club, which would combine CSR learning, e.g. compliance or sustainability, with a social element and opportunity to meet B&Q staff or other trades people.

2003 saw the launch of ‘B&Q’s approach to Community Regeneration’, a booklet explaining their programme and reporting on early success. This was issued to statutory, business and voluntary sector organisations to encourage collaborative working. B&Q have developed a ‘Better Neighbour Charter’, which is used as part of their development process, and aims to go beyond compliance levels to ways that they integrate their community programmes.