We help you improve the impact of your organisation’s social value through grounded, strategic cross-sector insights. It’s more than simply social value, ESG or philanthropy…
It’s connected, localised strategy in action.
Why Choose Connect Local?
Utilising over two decades of experience from within our cross-sector network, Connect Reading, we work with our clients to co-design strategic and impactful social value and ESG delivery.
Services we provide
Our portfolio of services are grounded in the practical and strategic experience of Connect Reading – our founding network. We’re also lucky to have a team of talented people excelling in strategy, events and impact evaluation.
Social Value Internal Audit
Our friendly team deliver an audit that helps scope social value within your organisation. Whether you’re a business or a nonprofit, this is the first step in scoping how you already have a positive impact on the economy, environment and community. We can also provide a list of recommendations to increase your impact.
Social Value Internal Audit
Showcase the positive impact your organisation already makes – and discover how to do even more. Our tailored audit helps you map your social value across the economy, environment and community. We can use and align this to trusted frameworks like the Social Value Model, TOMs or UN SDGs.
It’s a smart first step toward stronger impact, better reporting and more meaningful partnerships.
Scoping Your Organisation’s Social Value
Our personable approach delivers a tailored audit that explores the social value that your organisation creates. Using both qualitative and quantitative data, we help make your impact more visible and accessible. We look at the three areas of your economic, environmental and community impact. Audits can be aligned with various models – from the updated October 2025 Social Value Model to the LGA’s original TOMs (Themes, Outcomes & Measures) framework. We also can work to audit according to the UN SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals).
Social Value & ESG Training
What is social value? What’s ESG? And how can you ensure that your organisation is delivering genuine impact?
Our interactive training and workshops help cut through the jargon and build real understanding. Whether you’re a business or a charity, we tailor sessions to your sector – making complex concepts practical, relevant and actionable.
Social Value Training & Workshops
Our friendly, expert-led sessions help to embed social value into your organisation’s planning, practice and delivery – no matter which sector you are from.
Training & Interactive Workshops
We offer:
- Short training sessions: (1-2 hours or half-day) to introduce key staff to social value and ESG principles
- Bespoke Interactive Workshops: these are designed around your organisation’s focus, helping your teams move social value and ESG from buzzwords to a more lived culture.
Volunteer Strategy
Our team helped shape Reading’s Vision for Volunteering, working with partners from the charity sector to understand how to work with and facilitate connections with businesses. We bring that same strategic insight to corporate volunteering. Our team supports businesses to evolve their volunteering policies (like the support we’ve given the University of Reading across 2024-2026) and make these more aligned with ESG goals. Whether you’re just starting out, or refining an existing programme, we help you unlock greater social value through volunteering.
Volunteering Strategy
From an hour a week to a few days a year … empowering your employees to volunteer can boost wellbeing, strengthen teams and create real community impact.
Embedding Impactful Volunteering Strategy
We work with businesses to improve internal HR practices and volunteering policies – like flexible hour breakdowns or incentive schemes. We share best practice examples (like innovative microbrewery Phantom Brewing Co whose staff can volunteer an hour p/w online, incentivised through annual leave accrual) and co-design bespoke strategies that align with your ESG goals.
Our research for Reading’s Vision for Volunteering demonstrated how engagement in ‘corporate volunteering’ has dipped since 2020. Charities are also increasingly stretched, often being asked to upload current volunteering opportunities on multiple businesses’ internal platforms.
Is there a better way? Yes! And we can help you get there. Get in touch to start maximising your business’ social impact and staff engagement.
ISO 14001 Training
Sustainability is vital for the planet. It’s a key deliverable for businesses. ISO14001 is the globally recognised standard for Environmental Management Systems. It’s also a powerful tool for businesses committed to sustainability. Our training equips your team to understand, implement and improve environmental performance, helping you to meet compliance goals and drive impact.
Why ISO 14001?
This globally recognised standard helps your business stand out by embedding sustainability into everyday operations. Our training supports you to identify, manage and enhance your environmental performance – making it easier to track progress and demonstrate impact.
Equipping Your Business for Success
We have collaborated with trusted training providers to develop our training. Starting with a scoping session to understand your sector, current practices and goals, we then deliver a bespoke full-day training tailored to your needs. Your team will gain clarity on what matters most before an ISO 14001 Audit, and how to build a culture of sustainability through effective tracking and reporting.
Bespoke Support
We support businesses, charities and public sector services across a wide range of social value and ESG topics. From tenders and impact reports to strategy development. Whether you’re shaping a new Social Value Policy or tracking your organisation’s impact, we help you build meaningful practices that demonstrate your contribution to the community, economy and environment.
Tailored Support for Real Impact
We can help on an array of projects – from events to policies to reports. We’ll help you develop robust Social Value Policies and support specific projects to embed social value into contracts and operations.
Strategic, Practical & Grounded Experience
From integrating local suppliers into your supply chain to building cross-sector partnerships, our support is shaped by 20+ years of Connect Reading’s experience. We work with you to maximise your positive impact sustainably, through practical and strategic guidance.
Scoping & Facilitation
We time to understand your organisation’s ESG (Environmental, Social & Governance) goas and the context in which you operate. Through tailored research and strategic facilitation, we help you maximise your positive impact – whether it’s through community engagement, regional partnerships or internal planning. We also design and deliver events and workshops that connect your organisation with local and regional initiatives.
Understanding the Landscape
We take time to understand your organisation’s ESG ais and the communities you already – or intend to – operate in. Through tailored scoping sessions and research, we can help you identify where your work already creates impact and where it could go further.
Facilitation that Connects & Engages
Whether it’s designing workshops, hosting events or building regional partnerships, we help you to engage meaningfully with local communities. Our approach is grounded in two decades of cross-sector experience – found in our founding charity Connect Reading (all proceeds of Connect Local go to the Connect Reading Registered Charity). We are informed by multiple frameworks (SVROI, UK Government’s Social Value Model 2025, LGA’s TOMs framework and the UN SDGs) and can connect your work to them to frame how you continue your positive impact in the world.
Meet our
Associate Consultants.
Using their years of experience from across multiple sectors, they bring a balanced and wider-scoped view to our offering.
Lorraine
Briffitt
Cross-sector work and partnership development has given Lorraine her passion for impact and innovative strategy, working to boost social value and practice within clients’ businesses. She is also CEO of Connect Reading.
Paul
Cooper
With over fifteen years’ marketing leadership experience, Paul specialises in data-driven innovation and experimentation projects. He now combines this experience with a passion for sustainability to help businesses improve their environmental performance.
Connect Collective
Our collective of experts hail from within the Connect Reading cross-sector network, with specialists in a range of areas; from private sector business, to charities, CICs and social enterprises plus many with public sector experience.
We have built the third sector into our supply chain by using Connect Reading as our admin support.
Does your company operate in the Thames Valley or Greater Reading area? Why not join our cross-sector network and make social value easier and more connected? Visit Connect Reading
Let’s start the conversation
If you would like more information about the services of Connect Local, please leave your details and we’ll be in touch.