Search Results for: wellbeing

£557 million for public buildings to switch to cleaner heating and save on energy bills

Stuart Mitchell

More public buildings and businesses will benefit from over half a billion pounds in funding to help reduce their energy bills and carbon emissions. Schools, pools, and hospitals will be supported to make energy efficient upgrades, with over £557 million government investment. The new projects will help reduce emissions and cut bills, as part of the government’s plan to reach its world-leading net zero targets in a sustainable, pragmatic way. Heat pumps, solar panels, insulation and low-energy lighting will be rolled out to reduce the use of fossil fuels across…

Ex-offenders “neglected” in the workplace due to lack of digital skills, warns Digital Poverty Alliance

Stuart Mitchell

With current reoffending rates on the rise, prison leavers are facing neglect when seeking to reintegrate into society due to insufficient digital skills, according to the Digital Poverty Alliance (DPA). Government statistics reveal that the criminal reoffending rate is currently at 26 per cent, and has increased since 2021. The DPA believes that schemes like Tech4PrisonLeavers would largely decrease reoffending rates by providing ex-offenders with essential skills to make them an asset to society and employers. The DPA highlights a pressing need for all bodies to provide support and training…

Workplace volunteering could unlock billions in the UK economy

Stuart Mitchell

Workplace volunteering has the potential to boost productivity, improve employees’ wellbeing, and generate billions for the UK economy, according to a new report by Pro Bono Economics (PBE).* The report – ‘Triple dividend: How workplace volunteering can make us happier, healthier and more productive‘ – which has been produced for business volunteering charity Pilotlight, found that net productivity gains of between £1.6 billion – £2.8 billion could be unlocked for the UK economy by expanding workplace volunteering opportunities.** PBE’s analysis revealed that 17 – 23 million employees currently do not…

Triodos Bank calls for urgent shift to restorative and circular economy

Stuart Mitchell

Triodos Bank published its vision paper on the resource transition, in which it calls for more ambition to shift the economy from wasteful and linear, to restorative and circular. The current ecological crises require not only better financing, new risk and business models, but a system change. One in which companies and individuals see the value in the waste currently being discarded in landfills, and understand the ecological and social damages this causes. Triodos Bank argues that this change in norms will shift economies away from the ‘take, make, dispose’…

Trapped in the Cost of Living Crisis: YMCA Report Reveals Desperate Choices Of Our Nation’s Young People

Stuart Mitchell

New research released recently by YMCA paints a stark picture of the challenges and harsh truth imposed by the ongoing cost of living crisis, particularly affecting young individuals in supported housing. Titled ‘Trapped in the Cost of Living Crisis’ the report uncovers the testimonies and remarkable resilience of young residents who live precariously through relentless financial pressures, and how the hope of overcoming these challenges is diminishing daily. Their struggles, such as food insecurity, inability to afford basic utilities, and restricted access to transportation for school or work, are driving…