Some of our contracts in the council are delivered by different members of a group of organisations, in what we call a framework agreement. Although this is now changing, social value was often not built into these agreements.
However, this didn't stop David Mellor, a procurement specialist at the council, from approaching one of our IT suppliers to see if anything could be done. COOLSPIRiT jumped at the opportunity and were particularly interested in offering something that would benefit vulnerable, disadvantaged children and young adults in Surrey.
David made contact with Recognising You Awards, organised by the User Voice Participation team. This annual award ceremony has up to 1,000 virtual attendees and over 500 nominations for awards given to disadvantaged children and young people and families in Surrey. COOLSPIRiT donated five Microsoft Surface tablets to present as award prizes at the event, not only a great prize in itself, but particularly useful for these young people to more easily access online learning and future career opportunities.