CSR Update for Appletree

Corporate Social Responsibility is something we hear more and more about in business. Instead of keeping our heads down and just working hard for our own ends, CSR is about looking into the wider community and environment. It’s about looking at the impact we have and about seeing where else we can all help. In [...]

What gaps are in your communication strategy?

The fourth assignment for my CIM Professional Certificate in Marketing involves creating a communications audit on the organisation I have based my assignment upon. After I had fathomed exactly what was required, I started to enjoy analysing every aspect of communication the organisation did, including the ‘external’ stakeholders involved, such as the media and pressure [...]

CSR: A lesson learned by listening

Very interesting phenomenon happened the last time I went to the Compton Day Care Centre for my CSR Assignment in Listening. I arrived to greet my service users, and met with the usual happy response, but there was someone else in their midst! Another volunteer was there, in his early 60s, seeking reminiscences from the [...]

CSR: Frequent visits loosens tongues and makes listening easier

It’s beginning to get quite noticeable how the service users are getting used to me turning up on Wednesday mornings at the Compton Day Care Centre. I get big smiles when I enter, and my sweet old lady starts telling me all sorts of things even before I get a chair to sit down. There [...]

CSR: Listen for the unexpected from the most unlikely of sources

For my next visit to the Compton Day Centre as part of my CSR (corporate social responsibility) activities, I decided to see if I could talk to one particular service user who hadn’t had much of a chance to speak his opinions. There are plenty of eloquent ladies who voraciously voice their points of view, and [...]

CSR: Listen first and speak afterwards

Another installment of my CSR placement at Compton Day Centre; you can read part 1 and part 2 here to catch up. I arrived to find a state of excitement: they were celebrating my sweet old lady’s birthday. There was a birthday cake which was divided up amongst the company and devoured! My sweet old [...]

CSR: If you don’t listen you may miss something vital

I started my first CSR (corporate social responsibility) placement at the Day Care Centre in Compton on Wednesday 19 January (read all about it here). The idea was to “develop my listening skills”, a requirement proposed by Chantal. I arrived to find the service users (this is the correct term for the users of the [...]

CSR: Alice’s journey into the world of listening

Chantal’s focus on volunteering for CSR (corporate social responsibility) was to find a project or placement that would help or work with specific areas of her staff’s personalities. With Dianne it was about bringing her out of her shell, and her placement with the Newbury Volunteer Centre, going out into the town to recruit retailers [...]

CSR update for Appletree

During the spring of 2010 we started looking at doing more CSR – Corporate Social Responsibility. We produced a report (click here to read it – it’s on our website). In the report we included details of goals we’re aiming for during the year. So here’s an update on what we’ve achieved in the four [...]

What’s the best marketing you’ve done this year?

What marketing have you done that has really worked? What have you done that hasn’t been a great success? What was your best effort and what will you be doing more of less of next year? 2010 has been a busy year for Appletree so we’ve taken a look at the different marketing we’ve done, with [...]