Costa Rica Charity Project

Last month eight of our SmithCorp employees travelled to Costa Rica to embark on a charity project. Funded by the SmithCorp Charitable Trust the aim was to build a primary school in a village 30 minutes from Nicoya, after it was ruined by an earthquake 6 years ago. Partnering with Projects Aboard to facilitate the project, we helped to improve the education and lives of the people still affected by this disaster.

The school is situated in a very rural part of Costa Rica right next to the Barra Honda National Park. Houses are few and far between and built by the families who occupy them. The area is very poor and with out the help of SmithCorp Charitable Trust this project would not have been completed for another 6 years.

The children were currently in a temporary classroom with torn plastic sheets as walls, which let in the heavy rain onto the desks.

On the first day we visited the site we would be based at for the next 2 weeks. The children were currently in a temporary classroom made from a corrugated roof and a concrete floor, with torn plastic sheets as walls, which let in the heavy rain onto the desks. The building of the new school had begun with the help of the locals who had put up the frame of the building and the concrete walls. However, it was still very much an empty shell. We knew we had our work cut out!

Most of our days were spent digging or cement mixing (or both) which I can safely say is a skill we feel we have all mastered .The sun was scorching in the day followed by thunderstorms in the afternoon. We created moats to direct the vast amount of rain so it wouldn’t flood our hard days work. Once the roof was on and the floor had set it was time to buff, plaster and paint the walls. The days were long, tiring and very hot but everyone worked their socks off! All of this work was guided by a local builder who became our legend, Jose, and a member of Projects Abroad, Oscar.

The days were long, tiring and very hot but everyone worked their socks off!

Mid completion the locals held a celebration day for the new school.  All of the students, the parents, and the community came to the site and cooked us food in show of thanks for the work we were doing for them. The community were so grateful and we could tell it was making a big impact on them. Donations were given to the school; football kits, trainers, books, teddy bears, sweets, pencils and paper. We spent the day interacting with the children by playing football and playground games. The principal of the school also gave a speech, which was filled with gratitude and love for the charity they had been given. 

The community were so grateful and we could tell it was making a big impact on them.

The money raised and donated went in to the building of the primary school, along with new toilets and a playground.

The team is currently creating a video to show at the Charity Ball in November, which details the full construction of the school.

Pura Vida!

The team; Sam Start, Sammy Harris, Lucy Sinclair, Heidi Hardman, Chris Povey, Nick Bamber Josh Murch, and Ryan Murtagh.
As the director of Projects Abroad put it, ‘Thank you very much, you have changed their world. It means a lot to everyone, this place can’t even been seen on a map’.

Ready, Steady, Bake!

The LDP leadership group was back in action last week – this time to lead the launch of our awesome company common room, ‘The Hub’.

The leaders were presented with the task of planning, baking and presenting a special morning tea for all the Bristol based staff of SmithCorp.

Under the tuition and guidance of award winning baker Steve Tucker (Head Baker from Bakesmiths – the local supplier of our daily breads and pastries to ‘The Hub’), Paul, Tony. Andy, Hannah, Adam, Ben and Dom were soon ‘hands deep’ in dough, flour and spices baking delicious Chelsea Buns, Pain Au Raisins, Nutella Danishes and Savoury Twists.

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It was then a case of event thinking, planning and rehearsing as the leaders prepared all aspects of the presentation to ensure an informative and memorable ‘Welcome to The Hub’ event for approximately 75 employees.

All went smoothly as each of the three groups experienced the various culinary delights, followed by a tour of the many features within the outstanding communal area.

Well done to the LDP group! The proof was not only in the pudding as upon reflection each leader then identified key leadership learnings to implement to ensure the ongoing success of their own team and business area.

The LDP guys would also like to thank all the attendees. It was a great event and we look forward to seeing everyone each day … eating, relaxing and enjoying the many spoils within our ‘Hub’.

What’s all the Hubbub?

We are delighted to announce that “The Hub” opened today, Wednesday 19th April at Clifton Heights. 

The development of this space is part of a program of continuous improvement to enhance the SmithCorp working environment. Our intention is to broaden the experience of working for SmithCorp through improving work life balance and offering the opportunity for you to develop new skills. It has been designed as a place where employees can relax, eat, play and generally enjoy non-work related activity when in Bristol.

Complimentary breakfast will be provided daily and drinks machines have been installed to provide a selection of hot and cold drinks on tap.

Outside of working hours we expect it to host a variety of evening classes, seminars, charity and social events. Importantly the space will also provide a new home for our Bushido training academy and become the place where all Bristol group interviews take place.

Well done to Tim Robey who won a competition to name the new space.  We chose “The Hub” as we felt it best captured its essence (at the centre, shared by brands, a place for meeting, relaxing, learning and self improvement). Also a big thank you to Jo Glover, Kerry Fowler, Jody Nile, the IT guys and the team at Berkeley Place for their work in getting it up and running. We expect “The Hub” will quickly become a well used, well loved part of the business.

SmithCorp Charity Ball

On Saturday 19th November SmithCorp Charitable Trust held it’s annual black tie dinner and ball at Cadbury House Hotel & Country Club. The 204 guests made up of staff, partners and selected charities enjoyed a champagne reception, 3 course dinner, DJ, live music and our headline raffle draw.

As well as being a great social occasion, the event provided the opportunity to raise further funds for our chosen charities and projects for 2017. On the night we managed to raise a staggering £62,100! 

The evening was also a chance to reflect on the important work carried out by SCCT throughout this year and most notably to share the stories and experiences of our trip to Nepal where 8 members of staff volunteered to help the relief efforts after the devastating earthquakes in 2015. The film of the trip brought to life the hardship, but also the hard work and effort that has gone in to re-building schools and classrooms so the children can receive an education.  

SCCT also announced it’s support of an additional charity, based in Redruth, Cornwall - The Dreadnought Centre.  They work with children and young people facing emotional and behavioural problems to provide them with support and help them integrate into society where they might otherwise struggle or not have the opportunity to do so due to an underprivileged background. The Centre has been established for 40 years and focuses on improving social skills, trying new things, building self esteem and putting positive adults in children’s lives. The Centre are overjoyed at our decision to support them and the help we will be able to provide.

The highlight for many was the raffle draw where some amazing prizes were won ranging from 2 tickets for a weekend at the British Grand Prix, a designer handbag or shoes to a luxury 5* Caribbean holiday for 2. At the end of the raffle we also revealed an extra prize to raffle off there and then - a Northern Lights weekend for 2! This alone raised a spectacular £6,610 of the grand total.

A huge thank you to all that attended and most importantly to everyone who generously donated by purchasing raffle tickets and providing the fantastic prizes.

We've Been Awarded Investors In People Silver Status

We are delighted to announce that SmithCorp has been awarded silver status Investors in People accreditation.

Investors in People is an internationally recognised standard for people management. It reflects the latest workplace trends, essential skills and effective structures required to be a truly top performing business. As an organisation, IIP operates internationally in over 70 countries. In the UK there are now over 25,000 businesses that have received this accolade, but less than 3% have been awarded silver standard, so we are really proud of our achievement.

Investors In People’s strap line is ‘because good people make a great business’, and here at SmithCorp we passionately believe this as ultimately we are as only as good as our people. 

This award is recognition for everything we have achieved to date. It shows how the business has grown organically and continues to progress as we evolve from a start-up to a mature SME company. It demonstrates that our core values around people, passion & progress are alive and very much at the heart of our business. 

Progress does not stop here though. We will not be resting on our newly received laurels but will be striving for excellence in everything we do to ensure we deliver continued high performance.

Leadership ... In The Brecons

It was ‘put on your boots and roll up your sleeves’ last month as eleven of our senior business leaders participated in an Outdoor Leadership Course in the Brecon Beacon National Park in Wales.

John, Jay, Mike, Dee, Pete, Amy, Nick, Steve, Sam, James and Craig packed their bags and travelled to the Brecons for a 4 day Outdoor Leadership Course facilitated by Hawk Associates.

The course was held at the Glynmeddig Residential Training Centre and included learning approaches and leadership exercises most of which were held in the outdoors. The use of the outdoors was an excellent way or means to experience personal leadership and team development and it wasn’t long before we were put into situations that required immediate planning, communication, decisions and actions. The activities were great and provided very real challenges that we never believed we could do, both as individuals and as a team.

The days were long yet were packed with powerful experiences and learnings which included a variety of problem solving activities, rock climbing, a night gorge walk, river crossings, night caving, abseiling, mountain walking and trekking in a pitch black tunnel.

The leadership and business theory was incorporated into each day and all eleven of us certainly came away with many follow up memories, take-aways and actions to ensure the on-going leadership and progression of our team, brand and company.

A great course ... all to improve our people, passion and progress!