Community
Being a good business means not just looking after our people and our clients, but also caring about the organisations and people beyond our walls.
We’re proud of BKL’s roots in North London, whose diversity reflects our own. We know that by exploring our place in our community, and investing in good causes near and far, we can make a difference long-term.
As a significant step, in 2019 we set up The BKL Foundation. Each year, this charitable foundation donates a percentage of BKL’s profits to charities.
Our trustees are volunteers from across BKL and include Ian Saunderson, our partner specialising in services to charities. We’re in the process of adding more trustees to better represent BKL’s diversity.
We also support people at BKL with their individual charity fundraising by matching donations from BKL colleagues, and by doing the same for the joint fundraising/social events we hold in the office throughout the year.
Our application to become a Certified B Corporation also shows our commitment to meeting high standards in our contributions to the economic and social wellbeing of the communities.
We’re looking forward to extending the reach of The BKL Foundation and building relationships with other socially responsible organisations as clients, suppliers and partners. One we’re particularly proud of is our rewarding relationship with LTSB (Leadership Through Sport & Business), a social mobility charity that supports apprentices in professional services, including many members of BKL’s team. Our work with LTSB goes back to its beginnings in 2012.
Another example of a rewarding collaboration is Say It Loud Club, who support LGBTQ+ refugees and asylum seekers in the UK. They joined us for an online event during Pride Month 2021, telling BKL about their work, then did the same at our office in 2023; The BKL Foundation have made donations to support that work.
In becoming a greener business, we’re also making a difference to people’s lives. Working with Carbon Footprint, we’re offsetting our greenhouse gas emissions by supporting projects to bring fuel-efficient Toyola cooking stoves to Nigerian households and increase wind power supply in China’s Zhangbei County.
And our donations of used laptops have reached school pupils from Hertfordshire to Nepal, as well as trainees at UK charity Change Please.
Read more about our approach to community in our 2023 impact report.
