Being a good business means not just looking after our people and our clients, but also caring about the organisations and people beyond our walls. Here are some of the ways in which we’ve been having an impact within BKL’s communities.
Barnet Pride 2023
In late August, we were involved with our borough’s first ever Pride event: Barnet Pride in the Park.
We supported the organisers, Inkluder CIC, by funding their accessibility provisions via BKL, matching their ticket sales up to £2,000 via BKL’s charitable Foundation, volunteering (by Sarah Gillham, a member of our impact forum Mosaic and BKL Foundation trustee) and of course attending. It’s estimated that over 800 people were there.
As a group of people who have felt at home in Barnet (Finchley) for over 30 years, it meant a lot to us to contribute to the event. Here’s what Inkluder wrote for their website about our support:
‘At the heart of Barnet Pride lies the principle of inclusivity; ensuring that every individual, regardless of their background or abilities, feels welcome and valued. This year, thanks to the incredibly generous sponsorship from BKL, we’ve been able to take our commitment to accessibility to the next level.
BKL’s sponsorship has been instrumental in ensuring that our event remains not only vibrant and festive, but also truly accessible to all members of our community. Their support has enabled us to introduce features such as BSL [British Sign Language] interpreters, trackways, and accessible toilets, ensuring everyone can partake in and enjoy the day’s festivities.’
Inkluder have inspired us with their passion for celebrating and supporting LGBTQ+ people in Barnet, London’s second most populated borough. We’re looking forward to their 2024 events already!
Finchley Central Art Space
In another local contribution, our office lobby is now hosting the Finchley Central Art Space in partnership between Barnet Council, BKL and Middlesex University. The space is being used by Middlesex University students and alumni to display artworks made to question, interpret and express aspects that remain hidden from the everyday. Find out more here.
Helping homeless people in London
For many of us, the festive season is all about quality time at home. Too many others don’t have that privilege. It’s important that we think of them, and even more important that we take action to help them.
Roze Remak, a Mosaic member and a BKL Foundation trustee, co-organised a collection of warm jackets at BKL and Woodhouse College. She and a group of Woodhouse students gave out many of those jackets to homeless people in London – as well as buying them hot drinks from monetary donations – and donated many more to Homeless Action In Barnet (HAB), a charity we’ve also supported with grants from The BKL Foundation.
Thank you to Roze and the students for this wonderful action, made possible by generosity from across BKL and Woodhouse. And thank you to HAB for their tireless and compassionate work.
‘Thank you BKL! Your support for HAB is greatly appreciated- helping us to support some of the most vulnerable people in our Community’
Live Unlimited Barnet and SOS Africa
Each year, our charitable foundation donates a percentage of BKL’s profits to charities and good causes. Many of them such as Inkluder and HAB are local; some of them operate nationally and internationally.
We love hearing about the specific impact which these grants have had. One example is Live Unlimited Barnet, who help care-experienced children and care leavers in the borough. Through The BKL Foundation, we’re proud to support their Driving Ahead scheme: a package of 46 hours of free driving lessons, plus theory test and practical driving test fees, for young people aged 17-25 leaving the care of the borough.
‘Thank you so much for your generous support for our Driving Ahead scheme! Your donation has meant three care leavers have passed their driving tests and gone on to life changing opportunities!’
Some of those drivers feature in this video. Our congratulations to all the young people who have seized this opportunity with both hands (on the wheel), and to the wonderful team at Live Unlimited for all that they do to break down barriers.
The BKL Foundation has always supported good causes local to our office in North London. Now, because so many of our colleagues are based in South Africa, we support charities there as well.
This year the foundation has donated to SOS Africa, a grassroots South African charity which funds the education and care of disadvantaged African township children to help them break out of poverty. We’re delighted that The BKL Foundation’s donation to SOS Africa has contributed to their Care Worker Training Programme.
‘Thank you BKL for your life-changing support – thanks to your generous donation, in less than two months, six more care worker trainees will have graduated from our programme and will begin exciting new careers!’
You can learn more from the care workers themselves in this short documentary.
We look forward to supporting wonderful causes and inspirational people in our communities in 2024.