Blueprint for All

Colebrook Bosson Saunders (CBS) are international designers, manufacturers and distributors of award-winning ergonomic product. Part of the MillerKnoll collective of Brands and supported by MillerKnoll Foundation, they strive to find ways to enhance user experience through the seamless connection of people and technology. Situated in Southwark, they have a social events group – Team Cyril, who are community minded, charitable and always looking for ways to be within their local communities.

Have you ever cycled 73-miles? Well Team Cyril decided to do just that. Cycling from London to Oxford they raised £3,873 for Blueprint for All.

Partnering with Blueprint for All was based on our values. CBS, related to them and recognise the benefits of having a diverse workforce where communities join together.

“We hope the money raised will go towards supporting young people from disadvantaged backgrounds, in providing them with equal career opportunities, whether it be in further education, support or work experience for London and our communities future.

Team Cyril was very pleased to be able to raise so much money for our Charity in support of our event, everyone thoroughly enjoyed this year’s 7-hour ride. This year’s event was the most successful Charity cycling campaign Team Cyril have run.”

Let’s get to know Make, one of our architecture partners who have assisted us in delivering our Building Futures programme. Finding out about us through social media and word of mouth the practice wanted to volunteer their time and financial support to organisations like us to increase diversity within the industry.

First things first, lets get to know why Make are partnering with us…

“Blueprint for All has a great reputation for reaching those from disadvantaged backgrounds and supporting them in a variety of ways along their journey into architecture. We believe our contribution of time and funds can make the biggest difference when we work with an established charity such as Blueprint for All.

As architects, we want to see more diversity in the profession and also within our own practice. We thrive on having diverse voices and perspectives within our studio and our designs are stronger for it.

The quality of the built environment benefits from its designers being reflective of the wider community. Increasing diversity and inclusion in all built environment professions will improve the built environment and help us all deal with the challenges that society faces.”

Partnering with Make we wanted to make sure that we encourage the company to contribute in a variety of ways and make the most out of our partnership.

“We have committed to an annual financial donation. We have created two new paid roles exclusively for Blueprint for All participants who are studying for their Part 1: a three-month summer internship role and a one-day-per-week Sustainability Researcher role during the academic year. We have taken on a Blueprint for All participant as a Level 6 apprentice. We have reserved four of our work experience places for Blueprint For All participants. We also encourage applicants through the #bemoreurban partnership.”

"We have hosted two portfolio workshops, the first of which attracted over 175 participants on Zoom, showing the reach of virtual events. The second portfolio workshop was a one-on-one review for 12 participants. We hosted a hands-on Revit beginners’ workshop in the studio to give students confidence when applying for a job. We have donated six computers to a Blueprint for All partner school." - Frances Gannon, Partner at Make. What impact do you think the partnership has had?

It is fantastic to see young people grow in confidence and skills as they spend time in the studio for work experience or an internship. We’ve had great feedback from our workshops that having the opportunity to talk to architects and being able to ask for help and advice is a great support.

At Make we really enjoy welcoming young people into the studio, it brings a fresh energy and new perspective to our teams. Having students in the office gives our more junior colleagues valuable coaching and management experience. It’s rewarding for everyone to step away from the intensity of the day job for a short while and feel that we are giving back to the profession and contributing to positive change.

Looking for a charity partner, Cabot Credit Management wanted a partnership that will provide sustainable value that leads to championing diversity. For Neil Hussey, Head of Communications, that doesn’t mean “talking about initiatives or programmes, or moments in time. It is about genuine impact.”

Speaking with Neil, we found out why Blueprint for All was the right fit for the credit management services business.

“I think that’s the beauty of Blueprint for All—in name and in the way you go about things— that it’s not just focusing on one element of community but looking to achieve something broader.

Looking at the things you are going to do for us in terms of reviewing policies and our thinking around those, or the way we go about things: you are extremely well placed to do that by the definition of what you do.

This wasn’t just making a token donation to something and grandstanding and saying, ‘look at us we’re giving money to charity!’ It is more about the opportunity to get involved in the mentoring programmes to offer our support to you guys and expose ourselves to different viewpoints from your organisation, from our mentees, and for them to challenge us.

Through those different avenues, through mentoring and support, will be how we see the benefit of the partnership in that sense.”

Neil highlights the importance of focusing on a rounded outlook rather than just a ‘drop in the ocean’ approach to donating. No one can argue that donations aren’t valuable, but Neil believes “to be serious about it, you’ve got to show that you’re prepared to put your time where it is needed. That’s the bigger impact, the ability to offer time and share experiences. I think that works in a two-way perspective.”

How is Cabot Credit Management going to spend its time supporting Blueprint for All?

“We want to offer support to those that you provide opportunities for. We know there are people out there trying to make a genuine difference and they require a platform. If we can provide a platform, because we have a customer base, or because we’re in a large industry, then my ideal world would be that other people want to partner with [Blueprint for All] because they see the impact you’re having through our partnership. "If we generate people being curious and wanting to get involved in supporting an essential cause, then there’s the real benefit.”

Cabot Credit Management currently has 12 staff from its Senior Management team volunteering as coaches for community leaders on Blueprint for All’s Community Leadership Academy – a programme created to support community leaders with skills needed to successfully run their organisations, including website creation, accounting, social media and marketing. Their coaching supports members with growing their leadership skills and in other areas that they identify, like communications, problem solving, adaptability and relationship management.

How will our partnership benefit Cabot Credit Management employees?

“It’s about backing up your words with actions, that’s the criticality of it. It shows you are serious; shows you are genuine about it by investing in people’s time, energy, and skills.

If someone can see they work for an organisation that backs up their values they’ll feel more comfortable and safer, which will play out in our consumers who can see that, too. It’s about being genuine and authentic in what you do, and if you’re serious about making a difference it’s about saying, ‘what do organisations like Blueprint for All need, and how can we support them?”

Partnerships for Blueprint for All are an essential part of how we work to create a fairer and more inclusive society. As Neil mentions, the key to our partnership is that it is ‘evolving’.

“You will win certain battles and fights for what you’re trying to achieve quicker than others. I think it’s about Blueprint for All guiding us with that focus. As I say, this is a selfless thing, it’s about ‘what do you need’ and ‘what do we have that can help?”