Simplyhealth shows support for Andover’s Climate Day of Action
Simplyhealth staff collected a huge 20 bin bags of rubbish from the Andover town section of the River Anton as part of a pledge to get local people, and organisations to play their part and address the climate emergency the world is facing.
The team of seven, spurred on by Andover Vision’s ‘Andover’s Climate Day of Action’ which took place on Friday 25th June, registered their interest to help on the day by signing up to SimplyVolunteer, an internal platform that employees can explore and sign up to volunteering opportunities across the UK.
Starting from outside the Town Mills, located next to the Simplyhealth Hambleden House offices, the team received a safety briefing from Environmental Services Officer Deborah Hughes, then once fully equipped with waders, rubber gloves, pickers and litter bags, spent the morning cleaning the River Anton and along the riverbank.
We would like to express our thanks to the Simplyhealth team for their enthusiasm and hard work. Andover’s Climate Day of Action, is a fantastic way to showcase what local people and organisations are doing to help the environment, and also encourages individuals, businesses and community groups to pledge to make a change, to help tackle the escalating climate emergency.
Simplyhealth has already made changes in the way it operates to improve the local environment for the better. The company achieved Carbon Neutral + status from March 2021 for 12 months. The status was achieved by cutting carbon emissions and then offsetting remaining emissions whilst supporting three international energy efficiency projects aimed at helping communities in other parts of the world. In addition, Simplyhealth plans to plant around 500 trees in the UK in 2021.
Simplyhealth are delighted to be supporting Andover’s Climate Day of Action and appreciate the opportunity to contribute to making a positive impact on the local community and the environment.
At Simplyhealth, we understand that it is our responsibility to help protect the resources and ecosystem of the planet and want to make a difference, however big or small. We are all facing the impact of climate change, so we’re working with our colleagues, customers and our local communities to address it.
To lower carbon emissions, Simplyhealth purchases electricity which is independently certified as 100% ‘green’ under the Renewable Energy Guarantee of Origin (REGO) scheme and proactively manages the reduction of remaining emissions through the All Together Healthier project.
Charities or organisations interested in providing volunteering opportunities for SimplyVolunteer should email: volunteer@simplyhealth.co.uk
As a trusted responsible business, Simplyhealth is also taking action to reduce environmental impact by:
- installing LED lighting into all Simplyhealth buildings
- increasing recycling rates to 76% - the remainder of waste is incinerated for energy recovery
- replacing carpets with tiles made from 100% green energy and fully circular recycled materials
- installing electric car charging points for colleague and visitor use
- establishing a policy to introduce hybrid vehicles to the company fleet
- replacing a number of business vehicles with electric ones
- recycling all old computers and donating to local charities
Simplyhealth is continuing to ensure that every day, every decision we make, and every action – big or small – not only helps improve the health of our company, customers and communities, but also the health of everyone and everything we hold dear. For more information about our community impact, visit www.simplyhealth.co.uk/about-us/community-impact
About Simplyhealth
Since 1872, we’ve been helping people make the most of life through better everyday health. Our plans make sure individuals, families and employees can easily access in-person and virtual wellbeing services, and afford to stay healthy by claiming costs back on dental treatments, visits to the optician, complementary therapies and much more.
Today we’re delighted to be the UK’s leading health solutions company, with almost 1000 colleagues serving 2.3 million customers. We don’t have shareholders, so we’re led by our purpose of improving access to healthcare, for the many, for the long term. We’re passionate about using our voice in public health affairs and partnering with charities to reduce health inequality – each year we commit to giving 10% of pre-tax profits to a range of community causes. And we ensure our business takes care of the planet too, achieving Carbon Neutral + status in 2021.