Corporate Social Responsibility

A sense of community

Our clients come from all over the country, some from all over the world – but at Cotswold Conference Centre, we are also rooted in our local community. Our umbrella company, Sorven Holdings Ltd, is one of the biggest employers in our rural area – all our staff live within a 20-mile radius of the Estate. We are very aware of our importance to the local economy. For instance, when we built our new £3.5m accommodation courtyard, we employed local architects, builders and sub-contractors.

So we like to demonstrate our commitment to our neighbours whenever we can. Not only do we buy our produce from Vale of Evesham farmers and suppliers, we make an effort to connect with local charities and do our bit for organisations that need our help. We get involved in occasional sponsorships (for instance, the Evesham River Festival in 2012) and we try to find imaginative ways to make a difference.

Below are a few examples, but we have lots more stories to tell. For more Cotswold Conference Centre news, visit our Press Archive on the website.

Ban the bag!
Cotswold Conference Centre supplied 300 jute Ecover shopping bags to the Post Office and Village Stores in nearby Willersey village, to help discourage the use of plastic carriers. As a consequence, Willersey became one of the first villages in the Cotswolds to ban the plastic bag.

“Both our shops stock Ecover products so we are delighted such a successful brand have supported this initiative in our community,” said retailer Mike Knowles. “It seems fitting to launch the scheme to our regular customers on 22nd April, which is Earth Day 2008.”

School’s cool
From time to time, our conference centre chefs give a helping hand at Willersey Primary School cookery club. For instance, they taught culinary skills and helped prepare native American dishes as part of a Thanksgiving theme. The menu included Pumpkin Tarts, Three Ladies Soup made from squash, beans and corn, Indian Fry Bread and Pecan and Pumpkin Cookies. Head Chef Scott Courts and his Chef de Partie, Jamie Bennett, were delighted to share some tricks of their trade.

Girls just wanna have fun
In 2011, five Girl Guides from Evesham Senior Section (the Guiding movement’s programme for young women aged 14 to 25) spent a memorable summer’s evening at Cotswold Conference Centre solving puzzles and practising co-ordination skills.

“I asked if we could bring the Guides over to Farncombe as a favour,” said Leader in Charge Amy Cook. “The Cotswold Conference Centre was delighted to help and invited us to use their on-site teambuilding activities for an evening of fun.

“The members really enjoyed the fact they could go off on their own to look for clues without having to be wary of the road. The leaders felt it was a very safe environment and it also allowed the girls to make a fair bit of noise without worrying that they were disturbing anyone.”

Paddle your own canoe…
In summer 2011, Cotswold Conference Centre held an outdoors Charity Challenge, in which local businesses competed to win a pile of virtual money. Teams had to visit control points against the clock around the challenging terrain of the Estate; “purchase” a canoe-building kit and accessories at auction; build a canoe and finally cross the Farncombe Lake to the island in the middle.

The day was a great success – a perfect teambuilding, networking and fundraising exercise. Midshire Communications, a business supplies company based in Pershore, were the winners and all funds raised went to our Charity of the Year.