Achievements of the Big Yellow Foundation after a year

Our values and philosophy are all about ‘lightening the load’ and as such, we at Big Yellow truly understand how to help our customers when they go through a stressful time in their lives. This philosophy is something which we wanted to take beyond customers and into our wider community. We see that as a core part of the overall Big Yellow mission. That’s why in 2017, we launched The Big Yellow Foundation, our commitment and pledge to help vulnerable people lead brighter lives.

As we celebrate our first anniversary, we would love to bring the causes championed by our six charity partners closer to you. Let us introduce you to them: Bounce Back, Breaking Barriers, St. Giles Trust, Down’s Syndrome Association, Hire a Hero and The Back Up Trust. What binds us all together is a shared goal: supporting those who need a second chance and a helping hand to help get their lives back on the right track.

Bounce Back is a charity and social enterprise initiative committed to helping ex-offenders bridge the gap between prison and full-time employment. Offering training, work experience and employment opportunities to offenders when they are at the end of their sentences, it aims to not only open up and create new employment opportunities, but also ensure that these opportunities remain relevant to each individuals’ skills and interests, a mission which firmly aligns with the Big Yellow Foundation’s philosophy – giving vulnerable people a second chance.

Through our Foundation work, we hope to offer further employment opportunities. So far, we’ve had Bounce Back painters help with the construction of our new Guildford Central store, a relationship we hope to continue to foster in the upcoming years with the opening of even more sites across the UK.

St Giles Trust is a charity putting experience to work on society’s most complex problems. Its award-winning peer-led approach of training people who have successfully overcome disadvantages to help others forms the heart of what it does. Other work includes helping individuals find a new home, a job or simply providing someone to talk to. Like St. Giles Trust, we are committed to helping vulnerable people transition into a more stable life.

The Big Yellow Foundation makes grants available to St. Giles Trust, enabling it to continue with its amazing work. Some of our employees have taken part in running and biking events to raise funds, and others volunteer as mentors with St. Giles Trust.

Back Up Trust aims to transform the lives of everyone affected by spinal cord injury. That means delivering a range of services to build confidence and independence back into people’s lives. Delivering a range of services to build confidence and independence back into people’s lives, the charity offers a support network when it is needed most. Part of this is helping reintroduce individuals into the workplace. As part of this, the Foundation is offering individuals from Back Up a supported taster day, experiencing life in a Big Yellow store to show that everyone can access work related experiences.

Another of our charity partners committed to helping those with disabilities is the Down’s Syndrome Association (DSA). To support this, the Foundation is currently exploring work opportunities for individuals with Down’s Syndrome. Our Head Office staff took part in Challenge 21 this year: whether it was running 21 miles, cycling 21 kilometres, learning 21 new words - we asked our staff to take on any challenge focused around the number 21, to help raise awareness of Down’s Syndrome Awareness Week. It was a roaring success, and an initiative which we hope will become part of our annual charity events calendar.

Another group which the Foundation aims to support is refugees. Forced to flee their own countries due to persecution and war, many find themselves in the UK alone and without support, be it emotionally or financially. Breaking Barriers seeks to offer refugees opportunities to help empower them and rebuild their lives. Our aim is to support and open up relevant employment opportunities within our stores. Last year, we worked with Breaking Barriers to setup a six-month work placement for a young refugee at our Balham store.

Hire a Hero supports Service Leavers and Veterans, helping them make the successful transition into civilian life. Support provided by trained Hire a Hero staff, Career Coaches and volunteers working with Service Leavers and Veterans all work to provide support both emotionally and in relation to getting set up with employment opportunities. This is where the Foundation comes in. We are looking to strengthen our website, ensuring that any job openings and opportunities are easily visible and accessible to all, inviting veterans to apply for jobs with us.

Achievements so far… 
In our first year, we have been busy setting up, piloting and rolling out fundraising structures – with all our stores fully engaged, we have been able to make grants to our six partners of over £102,000. A huge thank you goes to the incredible dedications from our staff and our supportive and generous customers who have made this happen.

What we think makes our Big Yellow Foundation so special is that it has been built from within Big Yellow. Its board of trustees is made up of three senior leaders, chaired by our CEO, James Gibson. The Big Yellow Steering Committee, which is made up of ten individuals from stores and head office, works hard to ensure the Foundation is funded and that everyone at Big Yellow can get involved in fundraising, volunteering and work placement activities. The Foundation has truly become part of our DNA.

Wondering what you can do to help? 
We want to challenge our perceptions; seeing the people behind the headlines, understanding how we can make a difference is a first great step. Why not read up on our six charity partners, maybe follow one (or all of them) on their social media platforms too to help raise awareness of the great work they do.

And if you do want to do more, well it’s simple. Whether it’s when you’re checking in or checking out, we will ask if you would like to join us in supporting these worthwhile causes by making a donation, small or large. Truly, every penny counts, and it counts even more as Big Yellow matches total customer donations. We very gratefully accept donations from non-customers too, please donate via The Big Yellow Foundation Virgin Money Giving pages.

Stay tuned for further updates concerning the work of the Big Yellow Foundation and future announcements by keeping an eye on our blog and social media sites.