Partnering with ELBA

Here at Tyler Grange, we’ve always placed a lot of value on community work. 2020 really brought this into even sharper focus for us, with the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and the urgent need to address racial inequality, as emphasised by the worldwide Black Lives Matter Movement.

Through our existing connections with local charities, we became increasingly aware of how much both vulnerable individuals and community organisations and the need additional support during these challenging times. We all need to play our part, and this has never been more important than right now.

Despite our best intentions, we recognised that we need expert advice from people who really understand the community.

Tyler Grange have recently partnered with the brilliant East London Business Alliance (ELBA), an innovative charity who work with companies to help them channel their resources in the most effective way possible to support the needs of London communities.

We are hugely excited about this new partnership and working with ELBA’s expert team on some of the acute challenge’s communities are facing in today’s world.

As an employer, we want to play our part in helping to break down barriers to social mobility and promote diverse talent in our workforce. This is a challenge for our industry as a whole and Tyler Grange is no longer willing to accept the status quo- we want to lead from the front to address this. With the help of #ELBA, we’re making sure that we communicate with students at an early stage; this is fundamental to breaking down some of the barriers we’ve identified.

In partnership with ELBA, Tyler Grange will be running an internship scheme in 2021 for lower sixth students to help give them a flavour of what our expansive industry is all about. By sharing some of the ins and outs, we hope to inspire the next generation to consider following a career in the environmental sector.

To help us ensure we’re effectively reaching the right people who will benefit the most from the opportunities available, communication with both school and college leavers will be led by ELBA.

Tyler Grange will provide a structured four-week internship programme giving our interns an introduction to the work our busy ecology, landscape and ecology deliver. We will also assign a mentor from the Tyler Grange team to act as the main point of contact for students to make sure they feel supported during their time with us.

The idea is that, in the future, we hope to scale this up to encourage people into the industry who may not otherwise have been aware of the exciting opportunities available (and we do, truly believe they are exciting). We’re also looking to provide students with sponsorship through university, and a tangible career opportunity at the end of their course.

Working with their community network, ELBA also offer a broad range of impactful volunteering opportunities. Here’s a little taster of how our team will be contributing:

• Providing board level support for charities and community organisations
• Coaching community leaders to help them overcome their challenges
• Working with schools to support their careers advice programmes
• Providing insight days for university and college students.

We appreciate that there is a lot of work to do, but our team are excited about working with ELBA to play our part in tackling the challenges facing communities in today’s world.

If you’d like to learn more about our community work will ELBA, don’t hesitate to get in touch by contacting Aaron Grainger [aaron.grainger@tylergrange.co.uk].

If you’d like to find out more about ELBA and how you can become a corporate partner, or if you’re an East London based community organisation in need of extra support, be sure to check out their website here or contact Julie Hutchinson [julie.hutchinson@elba-1.org.uk].