Engineering staff and apprentices support Gloucestershire hospice's plans to ‘go green’

By Peter Davison

18 May 2023

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Employees from NG Bailey's Bristol branch from Operations Manager to apprentices just starting their career. They cover a variety of roles from operational, health and safety and administrationNG Bailey

A group of staff and apprentices from Bristol-based engineering company NG Bailey have been helping Sue Ryder Leckhampton Court Hospice near Cheltenham in their bid to become more sustainable.

Across two days, a 30-strong team from NG Bailey Engineering and Services Business gave up their time to replace 75 traditional light bulbs across the hospice with LED bulbs.

The swap resulted in a saving of 3.3killowatts of energy per hour and a 70 and 80 percent reduction in the money spent on electricity by the charity.

Rob Winnett-Saunders is Sue Ryder Leckhampton Court Hospice's Head of Operations and leads the Sustainability group based there: “Our Sustainability Group was keen to consider how we could reduce our energy consumption and carbon emissions by replacing traditional light bulbs currently in place across the hospice with LED bulbs.

“That’s when the expert team at NG Bailey stepped in – donating the bulbs and their time - to help us to make significant energy savings so that we can put more money into providing expert and compassionate care to families across the county.”

The engineering firm were inspired to support Sue Ryder as part of a series of activities to remember two staff members who died from cancer last year.

As part of their pledge to help, the volunteers also carried out some painting, as well as some work to the hospice gardens.

Simon Hayes, Senior Project Manager from NG Bailey, said: “We sadly lost two valued staff members to cancer last year. Our senior contract manager, Bob, worked for the company for more than 40 years and received end-of-life care at Sue Ryder Leckhampton Court Hospice. He was very well respected and loved by many across the region and had been an advocate and mentor for the apprenticeship programme.

“We were keen to give something back to the charity in their memory and we are delighted that by lending our support, we have also been able to help with hospice's plans for a more sustainable future.”

The hospice's sustainability group made up of staff and volunteers, has taken on a number of further projects to help reduce the carbon emissions associated with the hospice and promote sustainability.

This includes increasing the number of recycling bins, alongside implementing a range of new bins covering a greater range of materials. They have introduced a new kitchen garden to help reduce the hospices’ food miles as well as an optional ‘meat free’ Monday to the menu for patients and staff.

“The support of corporates like NG Bailey is invaluable and helps us to continue to be there for families when it matters. We would like to say a huge thank you to the team there for all their support,” Rob added.

By Peter Davison

Peter Davison is deputy editor of The Business Magazine. He has spent his life in journalism – doing work experience in newsrooms in and around Bristol while still at school, and landing his first job on a local newspaper aged 19. By 28 he was the youngest newspaper editor in the country.

An early advocate of online news, he spent the first years of the 2000s telling his bosses that the internet posed both the biggest opportunity and greatest threat to the newspaper industry and the art of journalism. He was right on both counts.

Since 2006 he has enjoyed a career as a freelance journalist. He lives in rural Wiltshire with one wife, two children, and three cats.