We wanted to involve some of the young people that we work with in the design of the building and Director, Robert Woolston and the rg+p team were really supportive, organising design workshops at their offices and in the (then derelict) building that has now been transformed. This initial involvement led on to them winning the contract to undertake the full project design and management.
What makes this partnership different is that even though the project rg+p were involved has finished, they are continuing to support us in any way they can. The early involvement in our project and with our young people helped rg+p understand the need for our work and the challenges that those young people face.
It’s testament to rg+p’s commitment to the community that they have continued to support Soft Touch in so many ways. Five staff including one of their directors are involved in our Kickstart Business Mentoring programme, helping young people who have very challenging lives to move forward with education and employment goals and life-skills development.
They also booked onto one of our special creative team-building days where their whole team of 54 people came together to have fun and explore their creative side through team-building activities including cooking, film-making, music-making, photography and graffiti art. The fee for the day went straight back into supporting the running costs of our projects. They have also sponsored workshops for our young people to create artwork for exhibitions and high-profile events.
With our recent Community Benefit Award win at the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors East Midlands Awards for our building refurbishment of 50 New walk, the judges commented on how they were really impressed with the partnership between Soft Touch, rg+p and Smallman and Son, the contractors who completed the refurbishment. The fact that both organisations were still committed to working with Soft Touch was something that really stood out in the judges consideration of the project.
‘We are absolutely thrilled with the RICS win. We have really enjoyed having the opportunity to work with Soft Touch, who do such a great job helping change the lives of vulnerable and disadvantaged young people. We look forward to continuing our collaboration with Soft Touch in the future.” Robert Woolston, Director, rg+p Ltd
