Partnerships

Partnerships policy

To conduct business in a fair, open and transparent manner with our partners (i.e. suppliers, contractors, associates, customers, community and regulators, local, regional and national groups and organisations) to enhance the environment, local economy and the society in which we operate, adding value for mutual benefit.

We work to enhance and improve our operational areas by working in partnership with relevant organisations to meet local needs. We ensure that we are not compromised by any partnership arrangements we enter into as we always adhere to our overall mission and code of conduct.

Partnerships action plan

• Enter into partnerships with organisations that reflect and agree with our mission, code of conduct, policies and objectives.

• We will communicate with our partners in a language they will understand and develop a shared vision of what might be achieved through the partnership.

• Strengthen our connections with the wider community and help realise the full potential of projects by forming lasting partnerships with local and regional authorities, regional development agencies and community groups.

• Work with potential partners to identify mutually acceptable objectives, timetables, value and outcomes before committing to partnership.

• Ensure that all partnerships that are undertaken are mutually beneficial and that recognition for the partnership is shared equitably.

• Review formal partnerships on a regular basis by implementing periodic performance reviews on regular and agreed timetables.

• Address the main issues facing wildlife and habitats in our operating regions by forming partnerships with key national and regional conservation bodies.

• Work with partners to create new models of sustainable change and ways of evaluating project successes within communities in order to tackle key issues.

• Work in collaboration with other partners on the Kielder Partnership with the aim to develop the Kielder area as a sustainable resource.

Partnerships KPIs

• Continue to work in partnership with local wildlife trusts, the Broads Authority, local biodiversity partnerships and other environmental organisations to conserve and enhance biodiversity.

• Maintain good working relationship with our direct regulators, Ofwat, the Environment Agency (EA) and the Drinking Water Inspectorate (DWI).

• Work in partnership with the County Durham Primary Care Trust, the District of Easington Council, the Neighbourhood Management Pathfinder and other key stakeholders to refurbish a redundant building in order to create a Healthy Living Centre to improve the lives of the people of Easington.

• Work in partnership with Business in the Community, The Housing Corporation, The Countryside Alliance and the Department for Communities and Local Government to continue to support of HRH the Prince of Wales’ Affordable Rural Housing Initiative.

• Work in partnership with Gateshead Council, The national Trust and Forestry commission to establish and support the Red Kite reintroduction project.

• We will maintain relationships with political parties that are represented in operating areas to raise awareness within the political arena of key industry issues and matters affecting our operations. It is the company’s policy not to, directly or through any subsidiary, make what are commonly regarded as donations to any political party.

Partnerships case study

Northern Kites

Northumbrian Water is one of the principal partners of the regional Northern Kites project which is managed by the RSPB and English Nature, working in partnership with Gateshead Council, The National Trust and Foresty Commission, with additional funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund and SITA Trust. Northern Kites was formed to reintroduce and ultimately, re-establish the red kite as a breeding bird in northeast England.

Northumbrian Water provided a secret and secure location for many of the birds to be reared before release. Five camouflage pens were built at Lockhaugh sewage treatment works near Rowlands Gill in the Derwent Valley.

Volunteers from the water company have helped with many aspects of the project including building the pens and providing a body guard for the birds. Such was the site safety that a pair of the birds released in 2004 returned to nest in trees above the pen ‘homes’ where their North East adventure began having been brought to the region as chicks from nests in the Chilterns.
Keith Bowey, Northern Kites project manager who supervised the final release, said: “Our Northumbrian Water partnership is an exemplar for the project which has delivered remarkable successes.

The birds are now widely re-established and flying and breeding nationwide for the first time in almost 200 years.

Chelsea Flower Show

Northumbrian Water and Gateshead Council worked in partnership to create a garden to display within the Floral Pavilion at the Chelsea Flower Show 2007. The theme of the garden was ‘water is precious for health, for wealth and for life itself’. The theme was chosen to reflect that it is vital that everyone understands how precious water is to our everyday lives and that without water there would be no life.

Our garden incorporated three circles, representing the overlapping interdependence of the social environment (for health), economic environment (for wealth) and of the natural environment (for life itself). Finally the water cycle was represented by moving water, flowing through the three circular gardens.

The water flows from our for life itself circle, which has the highest elevation, representing the beginning of the water cycle. The main feature of this section is the large stylised globe, the water flows from the North Pole of the globe and is pumped through the centre to repeat the cycle. The for health circle represents the mountainous regions, the planting in this area represents the health benefits of water through common plants with medicinal benefits. There is a twist though, many of the medicinal plants also have toxic elements, symbolising the potential poisonous nature of dirty water. The for wealth section represents that clean water underpins our economy and that every economic activity uses water to some extent. Here water thirsty and exotic planting represents the way we take water for granted, wasting water as we go about our everyday lives.

Then three structured areas of the garden are surrounded by an area of desertification symbolising climate change, drought tolerant plants, rust and erosion symbolise the after-effects of a water thirsty existence.

We are proud to say that the garden was awarded The President's Award: UK Horticulture, Silver Flora, it demonstrates that the message of the garden in not only important to us but is also important to all those who viewed it.

The garden will also be displayed at the Gateshead Flower Show in July 2007.

Exploring Your Environment (EYE)

The EYE Project is a 3 year project which enables people to play an active role in recording the wildlife and landscapes of the North East of England.  The three year partnership scheme is a Newcastle University project which is being managed by Tyne & Wear Museums and sponsored by Northumbrian Water.

EYE has been made possible via a grant of £226,500 from the Heritage Lottery Fund as well as funding from Newcastle University, Northumbrian Water, Tyne & Wear Museums, Natural England, Northumberland Wildlife Trust and Tyne & Wear Museums Business Partners.

The Eye Project aims to collect, manage and improve access to environmental records to ensure management and conservation of the biodiversity and geodiversity of the North East of England and to raise the profile of environmental recording as a means of increasing public knowledge and understanding of biodiversity, and promoting positive attitudes towards the natural environment.
The information gathered will be logged onto a new community website using WikiTOID technology.  The website which is being created by staff at Newcastle University and Tyne & Wear Museums is based on Ordnance Survey maps of the North East and uses technology that enables people to click on a landscape feature and record information. This easy to follow system will allow the general public to record wildlife spotted anywhere in the North East from their backyard to their local park or even whilst they are shopping on the high street. People will also be able to use the site to find out more about wildlife in the local area from the sightings that others have recorded.  The new EYE website will include lists of species to help people to correctly identify their discoveries as well as highlighting the top sightings in the region.

The project is also building the Regional Environmental Data Hub, a database of wildlife and landscape information. This will bring together environmental information from many different sources, in order to build a complete record of the natural history of the North East.

Both the WikiTOID website and the Regional Environmental Data Hub will be used by conservationists working to protect the natural environment, ensuring that the region's species and habitats are protected for future generations to come.
The EYE project team will be working with a wide variety of people, including schools and community groups to capture up-to-date information about the region’s environment.  Families will be able to get involved and take part in up to 30 events planned across the North East over the next three years.  Events will also include an annual environmental fair, school workshops and large scale public surveys. 

Dr Keith Bartlett, regional manager for the Heritage Lottery Fund, said:  “Wildlife is an important part of our natural heritage that everyone can get involved in and make a contribution to, but it is easy to take it for granted as we go about our busy lives. Thanks to lottery players’ money, people of all ages will be encouraged to discover the wildlife on their doorstep, learn about it and then share that with others.”

The information gathered through this project will also help to shape the displays at the Hancock Museum as it is redeveloped as part of the £26 million Great North Museum project which is due to open in 2009. Public access points will be created at the new museum, as well as a number of selected locations around the region.

John Mowbray, Northumbrian Water’s corporate affairs director, official sponsors of the project, added: “No company in the North East spends more on environmental improvements than Northumbrian Water.  EYE project is a great opportunity for the company to support and encourage everyone to become more involved in their environment.  Northumbrian Water’s sites are havens of wildlife and fauna and we want everyone to help to build this picture of the region to help us all to protect our own natural environment.”

Many of Northumbrian Water’s treatment works and sites are important, safe and secure refuges for a wide variety of wildlife.  The company will take an active role in the EYE project by hosting a number of the project’s events.  Additionally, employees will be given the opportunity to have hands-on involvement and assist with the trial of the WikiTOID website through the water company’s community volunteering scheme, Just an Hour, and its Environmental Champion crusaders.

The Northumbrian Water Wild Flowers on your Doorstep survey has been developed as apart of the EYE project and enables people during the spring and summer months, when wild flowers are all around them, to record the 12 wild flowers in the survey when they are out and about in the North East. By telling us where they have been seen, the EYE project can take steps to ensure their protection for future generations to enjoy.

Common Purpose Case Study

Common Purpose helps people in leadership and decision-making positions to be more effective, in their own organisations, in the community and in society as a whole.

Common Purpose brings together business leaders from all sectors within the local community. Although the backgrounds and businesses are very diverse, the everyday challenges they face are the same.

Rather than sitting in a classroom, the challenges are actually out there in the local community and as participants employees from Northumbrian Water have been able to share the real issues facing the local community and the organisations operating within it. It also highlights what partnerships currently exist and allows new partnerships to form to make a difference.

Derek Gibson, Northumbrian Water’s electrical engineer, has recently completed the Common Purpose programme, he said:

It has been fantastic; it has not only challenged me personally in how I operate day-to-day, but also given me the opportunity to make a difference in my community. I was able to offer my skills and knowledge to help other people on the programme as well as gaining support from their personal knowledge.

Northumbrian Water has not only had its profile raised in the area by taking part, it has also been able to find out what the real issues are within our community and help form partnerships to share resources to solve these issues.

The networking and activities involved within the programme has also allowed community organisations to learn more about, and benefit from, our community schemes such as Just an hour.

Water for health

Our ‘Water for health’ campaign promotes the health benefits of drinking tap water to customers – from tots to grandparents. The ‘Water for health’ campaign, which is supported by an information pack, raises awareness of the importance of the whole family drinking enough tap water – all growing things need watering!

• The ‘Chill out’ initiative enables school children to have access to cool, excellent quality tap water in a hygienic location. Northumbrian Water will install at least one free mains-fed water cooler in local authority schools throughout its supply area.

• Sickness absence costs employers at least £11 billion each year and 33 million working days are lost to occupational ill health every year. Northumbrian Water promotes mains-fed water coolers for businesses - working people need watering. Well-nourished and hydrated employees are resistant to illness and recover more quickly.

• Northumbrian Water is bottling tap water, branded ‘97’. The name reflects the amount of quality tests tap water goes through before reaching customers taps. The huge variety of events includes fun runs, sporting events, fetes and teddy bears picnics!

• We exercise our community involvement and encourage a healthy lifestyle from a young age through a range sporting partnerships and sponsorships.

• ‘Water for the young at heart’ encourages older people to drink more tap water. Dehydration has been identified as one of the main causes for falls in the older people, our employees give talks to a variety of different groups and distribute water jugs which can be put in the fridge to make access to cold, refreshing tap water easy.