As well as being an integral part of the communities that it operates in, Northern Ireland’s leading waste management company, RiverRidge has further demonstrated its commitment to the local community with a range of sponsorships and donations in the last 12 months, as part of its community outreach programme, which complements the recent launch of its ESG Strategy.
The company, which operates in Belfast, Garvagh, Maydown, Portadown and Mallusk, has been passionate about supporting local throughout its 11 years, as well as maintaining positive community relations. This is at RiverRidge’s core, with looking after its people, customers and the communities that it operates in, ranking heavily in its ESG strategy, ‘Rethinking Our Future.
CEO of RiverRidge, Brett Ross spoke about the company’s community outreach programme saying, “We are proud to support a selection of groups within the local communities that we operate in. We are committed to being a responsible organisation that our people and the wider communities can be proud of, and these donations and sponsorships are only one of the many ways that we can help develop and enhance the local areas.”
Some of the organisations and projects that RiverRidge has supported are outlined below:
4RS New 2 You
In April 2021, RiverRidge supported the 4RS ‘New 2 You’ initiative with its laptop donation programme – a fantastic initiative that helped to ensure children in socially deprived areas were able to continue with home schooling during the pandemic.
The donation from RiverRidge helped to deliver 120 reconditioned laptops to local families who were in need, and also prevented these laptops from going to landfill.
Thanks to the overwhelming response to the laptop programme, 4RS ‘New 2 You’ was able to go further and secure funding for members of the local community moving from long term temporary accommodation, into social housing tenancies, and assisted with much needed support from recycled furniture to advice.
Find out more: https://bit.ly/3DSsT9S.
Garvagh People’s Forest
Garvagh’s People Forest is a project that began with Garvagh Forest, and is inspired by the ideas that matter to those within the local community.
The initiative’s original aim was to raise £10,000 that that would act as an innovation pot for ideas and projects submitted by people living, working, learning and playing in the communities surrounding forest. Bids of up to £500 were accepted from people aging from 8-108 years, which would be presented to the local community who deliberate and vote on the projects they felt would have the most value.
Raising a total of £10,500, including a donation from RiverRidge, a total of 39 bids were submitted, with 26 of those bids selected as projects that would receive funding.
Some of the winning bids included, A tree for every newborn; Sensory welcome area for pre-school children; Repurposing the phonebox; Community larder; CPR and defibrillator training of traders; and Mindful health programme for children.
Find out more: https://bit.ly/3LGCHXk.
NI Hospice
The Northern Ireland Hospice has been RiverRidge’s charity partner since 2016 and carries out fantastic work for babies, children and adults with complex needs throughout the region. Caring for over 4000 people every year, the charity delivers symptom management, end of life palliative care, specialist rehabilitation and respite care.
Pre-pandemic, RiverRidge held a number of events for the charity including its annual golf day, to raise money for the charity, however throughout the pandemic, the company continued to support the company with monetary donation.
Find out more: https://bit.ly/3xd0Gcw.
Strathfoyle Women’s Activity Group
With the aim of relieving poverty to advance educational opportunities and providing better health and welfare through the provision of facilities and activities, Strathfoyle Women’s Activity Group is a fantastic initiative for women, lone parents and pre-school children of Strathfoyle and Maydown.
The project is deigned to empower individuals whilst building their capacity to enable them to participate in training events, development activities and health events. The long term outcome is that their self-esteems, self-awareness and confidence is raised, equipping them to become re-integrated into the labour marketing, and in doing so, breaking down the barriers to participation.
Strathfoyle Women’s Activity Group has been at the heart of the community that it serves for the past 30 years, keeping the needs of the local community at the forefront.
Find out more: https://bit.ly/3JmrYzy.
RiverRidge strives to support as many initiatives as possible, however due to the high number of requests received and limited funds, it is unattainable to support every request.
