This week, Castle Water donated therapy bears to every child at Newhill Primary School in Blairgowrie, Scotland. The school is situated close to Castle Water’s head offices.
The bears will provide a wellbeing aid to the children, helping them with the transition back to school following the extended period of lockdown and distanced learning from home.
Our CEO John Reynolds said, “It’s a fantastic initiative and we’re so pleased to be a part of a project that supports the wellbeing of young people in education. The employment and the education of young people is an important focus at Castle Water.”
Castle Water got involved with the project after being approached for support for the donation by a representative of HOST. HOST, which stands for 'Helping Our School Thrive', is a dedicated group of parents, carers and teachers of Newhill Primary School. A representative from HOST explained, "HOST support the school by enhancing a positive environment within, for our children to learn and grow. Throughout the year, the HOST group plans and carries out events to raise funds for the school."
Earlier this week, Castle Water's Marketing Communications manager, Emma Smith, and Office Manager, Naomi Twine, visited Newhill Primary School to see a group of young pupils receive their bears. Emma Smith said of the visit, “It was wonderful to meet some of the parents, teachers, carers and children at Newhill Primary school this week, and a joy to see the smiles and excitement when presented with their new therapy bears. The team at Castle Water have already received kind words of thanks and appreciation from some of the parents and carers of the children at the school. It’s excellent to hear that the bears are already helping to support the children through the adjustment of returning to the classroom with their peers, following lockdown.”
Castle Water have long supported the employment and education of young people.
Castle Water launched its Apprenticeship Program in August 2018. As well as entering full-time employment with a growing business, Castle Water gives its Apprentices the fantastic opportunity to earn as they learn. 95% of Castle Water’s Apprentices remain in the business post-qualification. The latest cohort started in September 2020, 4 of which have already completed their qualification and have been offered permanent contracts with Castle Water. Castle Water are recruiting the next intake of Apprentices in the coming months.
Through a partnership with Career Ready, Castle Water further helps to empower young people in their 5th and 6th years at Secondary school, by kick-starting their career through an authentic workplace experience.
The wellbeing of its employees is another top priority at Castle Water, that offers ways for its employees to get trusted, confidential support on a range of issues from mental health to personal finances. Each week employees can tune in to a program of health and wellbeing webinars, a service that has been especially valued during the Covid-19 crisis.
Castle Water is keenly aware of the wellbeing of its customers too, and addresses key issues that affect their businesses. Castle Water played a major part in convincing Ofwat to take the measures that allowed it to provide rebates for periods when businesses were required to close during the lockdown – without Castle Water’s influence, this would not have happened.