Turning social value commitments into real community impact
Social value should be more than a commitment written into a contract.
It should be something people can see, communities can feel and organisations can demonstrate.
The Social Works Partnership exists to help businesses and organisations turn their social-value commitments into practical action — creating local opportunities, improving the environment and delivering measurable benefits for the communities in which they operate.
We are a delivery partner. We work with organisations to understand what they have committed to deliver, develop practical programmes around those commitments, and then help make them happen on the ground.
Built from community experience
The Social Works Partnership has grown from practical experience rather than theory.
In 2018, CleanUp Skem CIC was established by volunteers who wanted to make a visible difference to the local environment.
The work began with community-led environmental activity, including litter picking, graffiti removal and the removal of fly-tipping from heritage woodlands.
What started as volunteers taking action in their own community developed into a wider understanding of what can be achieved when people, organisations and communities work together.
It demonstrated something important:
Social value works best when it is delivered locally, practically and with a clear purpose.
That experience is now at the heart of The Social Works Partnership.
From volunteering to professional delivery
The landscape has changed.
Increasingly, organisations are expected to demonstrate the social value they create through the contracts and projects they deliver. For contractors, developers and service providers, this can create an important opportunity — but also a responsibility.
Making a commitment is one thing.
Delivering it is another.
The Social Works Partnership has been created to bridge that gap.
We provide a practical route from a contractual social-value commitment to activity that can be delivered in the community and supported by meaningful evidence.
That can include environmental improvement, community engagement, volunteering, employment opportunities, skills development and other locally relevant initiatives.
We believe in visible social value
Our approach is simple.
We believe social value should:
Create opportunity.
Helping people gain experience, skills, employment and confidence.
Improve places.
Making the environments in which people live, work and spend their time cleaner, safer and better cared for.
Strengthen communities.
Supporting residents, community organisations, schools, voluntary groups and local initiatives.
Deliver measurable outcomes.
Providing organisations with clear evidence of what has been delivered and the difference it has made.
Most importantly, we believe social value should leave something positive behind.
A partnership approach
We do not believe there is a one-size-fits-all social-value programme.
Every contract is different. Every community is different. Every organisation has different commitments and priorities.
Our role is therefore to work collaboratively.
We can help identify opportunities, design programmes, coordinate delivery and gather evidence — working alongside contractors, businesses, local organisations and communities to create programmes that are realistic, relevant and deliverable.
The result is a partnership rather than simply a service.
Your commitment. Our delivery expertise. A better outcome for the community.
Looking to the future
The Social Works Partnership is building on the foundations established through years of community activity and looking towards a new model of social-value delivery.
Our ambition is to develop a network of local delivery partnerships capable of creating meaningful employment, skills and environmental opportunities while helping organisations meet the commitments they have made.
We want social value to become something that is experienced in communities rather than simply recorded in reports.
Because ultimately, the best evidence of social value is not just a figure on a spreadsheet.
It is a cleaner place.
A new job.
A new skill.
A person given an opportunity.
A community brought together.
And a lasting improvement that people can see.
The Social Works Partnership
Social Value. Environment. Employment. Community.
From grassroots action to professional social-value delivery.