Post by PeoplePlus UK

What a day at Newcastle United's St James’ Park stadium, in the Magpie Club room at the top of the stands. Hosted by Sodexo UK and Ireland, this SRAG summit brought together employers, VCSEs, new members and first-time attendees to talk honestly about what social value really looks like in action. We kicked off the day (pun intended given the venue) with the presentation of Charter Mark Awards for Pointer Ltd and Concentrix. Every charter award underlines what the SRAG is about - embedding social value impact, progress with purpose, and shared prioritisation of a currency that accrues value far beyond the bottom line. Our hosts, represented by Angela Halliday and Clare Belford (and loads more brilliant team members) from Sodexo, gave a simple reminder: "If the thing you want to do feels right, if it engages your heart as well as your head, it’s worth it. Do the programme. Be persistent, be annoying. Make it happen". The Driving Legacy Social Impact panel featured Newcastle United Foundation, Pilotlight, Tent Partnership for Refugees, Sodexo and Half the Story (who quite literally brought the crunch with their biscuits 🍪) - exploring what long-term employer-VCSE collaboration can achieve. We can't get it all in to a single post... the regular partner carousel - this time RideTandem | B Corp™, RNIB, Tent Partnership for Refugees, PeoplePlus UK on Prison Education, and Gateway Qualifications. Beverley from the Northeast's The Recruitment Junction underlined best practice in employing people with experience of the criminal justice system - a strong theme of the day. Thoughtful book donations came from attendees - that the PeoplePlus prison education team will share across the 30+ prisons we now work in. Given this theme, PeoplePlus's Laura Savage announced the launch of the Justice Recruitment Advocacy Group (J-RAG) - a new, employer-led collaboration with the multi-billion cost of re-offending in its sights. The day closed with WildHearts Group Social Enterprise - connecting every theme back to social mobility - and the message that business can and should be a force for good, now and for future generations. Next stop: Tap Social Movement in Oxford on 4 December, hosted by M Group - our final SRAG Summit of 2025. Maybe we'll see you there. [email protected] #SRAG #SocialValue #Inclusion #SocialImpact #SocialRecruitment #PurposeDrivenBusiness #CommunityImpact #OpportunityForAll #BusinessWithImpact #SodexoUKI #Newcastle #StJamesPark #PrisonLeavers #JusticeRecruitment #PeoplePlus