We want the local communities near our sites to see us as a good neighbour.
We put this into practice through supporting our employees to volunteer, and through the Synthomer Foundation, which has supported community projects in the USA for over 60 years. Now, we’re working to expand our reach even further.
We’re refocusing our approach to our community engagement, building on what we’ve learned from our Synthomer Foundation, and how we provide funding and support for local community activities. To help us do that, we’ve set a community-based target as part of Vision 2030 – to provide volunteer support and financial contributions in excess of £1 million a year to advance education, public health, diversity and environmental stewardship.
Volunteering
Volunteering is a really significant way that everyone at Synthomer can make a difference in local communities. We’ve set up a global volunteering network which includes a community champion at each site, as well as three regional coordinators who meet quarterly to discuss project proposals.
In May 2021, we launched Synthomer Cares week, where employees around the world get involved in activities to raise funds, support local communities and feel connected with one another – and we ran it again in 2022.
Some of the highlights included:
- Employees in Ohio helped sort donated clothes and pick up litter for a homeless shelter
- In South Carolina, employees donated personal care items to a women’s shelter
- Employees in Pennsylvania donated just under 230kg of food to a local food bank
- In Malaysia, 43 employees took part in a charity run to raise money for COVID-19 care kits for 30 less fortunate families
- Employees in Italy and Portugal undertook a two-week exercise challenge, and recorded the time they spent running, walking or cycling via an app. Synthomer then converted this data into donations and the winning team received a 25% bonus to donate to their chosen social organisation – raising £1,560 in the process.