Getting Sustainable With Sykes

Here at Sykes, we’re passionate about creating a better world and a positive impact. That’s why we’re working hard towards creating a lasting effect on both our planet and people.

Our new Impact mission has highlighted the importance of our contribution as a business to communities. Due to this, one of our Impact pledges is to enable all staff to volunteer and make a difference. We offer this with two paid volunteering days every year, for all staff members!

From tree planting to painting hedgehog homes, our team has participated in a variety of volunteering activities across both Sykes and our sister brands.

Keep reading to discover some of the ways we’ve been involved so far…

Tree Planting 

One way we’ve got stuck in with corporate volunteering is by tree planting with our partners at National Parks. At the Northumberland National Park, we’ve proudly planted 150 Willow and Crab Apple trees with stakes and tubes. These have gone into 25 different sites spread widely across the National Park.

Additionally, we’ve planted around 5,000 trees in Snowdonia National Park. Over 22 team members assisted in removing invasive species Rhododendron from sites in need, creating space for other nature to flourish.

Prickles In A Pickle

Our wonderful employees at our sister brand Coast & Country Cottages lent a helping hand at their local charity, Prickles In A Pickle. At the hedgehog hospital in Stoke Fleming, Devon, staff took part in a deep clean and redecoration project, while Judy Oliphant, the team leader of the charity, was busy caring for their 130+ injured and sick hedgehogs.

Judy said “We had an amazing team of people from Coast & Country Cottages visit us, armed with cleaning equipment, energy, and plenty of goodwill.

“They came to clean down our hedgehog hospital, prepare for painting, and then decorate. It was clear that they are all team players and a happy bunch – not only that but they did a sterling job.”

Cheshire Food Hub

Members of the Sykes family helped to support our local charity partner, Changing Lives Together, by making food deliveries for the Cheshire Food Hub Christmas Box project.

The project supported three council areas, including eight community groups and 47 schools. Packing 3,448 boxes enabled 6,400 children living in poverty in Cheshire to receive food.

During this project, an impressive 37 tonnes of food were sourced and distributed, including 15,000 festive gingerbread biscuits saved from landfills. 238 volunteers gave over 1000 hours of their time, including 6 corporate supporters

Chester-based staff will be supporting the charity with volunteering and fundraising activities throughout the year.

Fact: 1 van = 1 tonne of food redistributed = 1.6 tonnes CO2e emissions + 1.5 million litres of water prevented from going to waste.

Passion For Learning

Passion For Learning is based around educating young ones on career opportunities and encouraging their aspirations.

Sykes Holiday Cottages has partnered up with Passion for Learning to deliver workshops to school children from disadvantaged backgrounds in Cheshire. We aim to educate these young ones and build awareness of all the career opportunities they have.

Nikita, one of our UX Researcher’s leading the project said “Children are the future of our society. All children deserve equal opportunities, have a good understanding of what they can do in the future, and explore the skills they have”.

We want to encourage their aspirations to help them realise they can do something that they love when they’re older.

Keep an eye on our Impact blogs to see what else we get up to. You can also find out more about our pledge to make a positive social and environmental impact here at Sykes on our About Us page!