Annual Report

Here at HCGC we are very proud of what we do. The 2008 Annual Report is a round up of everything that has happened at the Centre over the last year and some thoughts on where we are going in the future.


Annual Report 2008  [pdf format]

Click here for pdf reader if you are unable to view the report  


HCGC Sustainable Purchasing
and Procurement Policy

1.1 Overall Aim

Hulme Community Garden Centre is committed to ensuring the goods and services it purchases and procures:

•    are manufactured, delivered, used and disposed of in a legal and compliant manner and
•    deliver long term value for money for the organisation and its stakeholders


1.2 Key Sustainability Objectives

Buying more sustainably offers potential whole life cost savings, supports our commitment to sustainability and safeguards our reputation as a responsible organisation.

The key objectives addressed by this policy are:

1. Protecting human health Avoiding hazardous chemicals; promoting good diet and exercise; raising           household incomes.

2. Promoting fair working conditions Improving pay, working hours and equality in supply chains.

3. Promoting social enterprise and improving local skills.

4. Enhancing social and environmental objectives of suppliers; enabling access to quality employment.

5. Reducing soil, water and air pollution. Avoiding chemicals harmful to health and environment.

6. Reducing energy consumption and climate change impacts.

7. Avoiding energy intensive activities; improving energy efficiency; seeking non-fossil, renewable                 energy sources.

8. Reducing water consumption. Avoiding water intensive activities; improving water efficiency;                      rainwater capture and grey-water recycling. Promoting clean and healthy water.

9. Reducing materials, packaging and waste. Reducing, re-using and recycling.

10. Protecting habitats and biodiversity. Sourcing sustainable timber, seafood, palm oil and soy;                   enhancing local habitats. Recognising the inherent worth of natural organisms and environments.
      
Adapted from: 'Buying a Better World', Forum for the Future, 2007

1.3 Scope

This policy applies to all purchasing and procurement activities within the organisation

1.4 Key Policy Principles

1.4.1 Demand Review
                           
Prior to any tender process, the organisation will review the requirement to minimise volume, costs and environmental/ social impacts by establishing that:

•    there is a genuine need for the purchase,
•    all possible opportunities for products to be shared, upgraded, refurbished, leased or delivered as a          service have been explored,
•    the product or service will be used efficiently, minimising waste

1.4.2 Sustainability Review  
     
Prior to any tender process, the organisation will review the purchase against the key sustainability objectives listed above. Where relevant, the organisation will identify actions to reduce impacts through supplier pre-qualification questionnaires (PQQ) and continuous evaluation and review of the purchasing and procurement system.  Where possible the organisation will seek to help suppliers to become more sustainable. If a supplier has been unsuccessful in winning our business, due to sustainability considerations we tell them why. 

1.4.3 Training and Implementation  
                
Staff responsible for purchasing will be required to make themselves familiar with the Purchasing and Procurement Policy and will be attend training, either in-house or externally. 

Sustainable purchasing and procurement will be incorporated in to the induction, job descriptions, objectives and recruitment criteria for all relevant staff. 

We will appoint a Sustainability Champion to promote and support sustainable purchasing and procurement practices for the whole organisation or for individual departments, whatever is most appropriate.

We will create a directory of suppliers considered in relationship to the sustainability objectives listed above which will be reviewed annually by the Sustainability Champion.

1.4.4 Communication & Reporting      
             
To communicate this policy to suppliers, the organisation will include a copy of this Sustainable Purchasing and Procurement Policy as an appendix to all Invitations to Tender and requests for services.

The Board will receive an annual report on the impacts and effectiveness of this policy and progress against key targets.

1.5 Policy Development

This policy will be reviewed on a yearly basis by The Project Manager

Appendix 1

Demand Review

Ask yourself and your team these questions, they should help you to identify where you could make savings in terms of reducing the amount of purchasing made or potentially make long term savings by considering more sustainable options.

1. Do we really need to buy this product or service?

There could be many items that you can reduce or eliminate. Have a 'stock take' of all the purchases made and go through each one and ask yourself the question. Do we need it?

2. What would prevent the need for this product?

If you find once you have completed the 'stock take' that there are things that you cant live without then ask yourself why you cant live without them. Is there something else that is more sustainable that could do the job instead?

3. Could you share with other organisations?

Specialist equipment can be very expensive and may spend most of its life in storage eg; tools and cleaning equipment. Can you borrow them from another organisation? If you are the owner of the product, can you lend it out to others?

4. Can existing products be refurbished, repaired or upgraded?

IT equipment and furniture may be refurbished or upgraded to extend their useful life and avoid any additional purchases.

5. If the product is disposable, what reusable alternatives exist?

Single use items generate constant waste eg; pens, ink cartridges/ toner, plastic cups for water coolers, dispensers for cleaning products. Are there alternatives you can use? Eg; refillable pens, glass tumblers instead of plastic cups, refillable cartridges/ toner, refillable dispensers for hand wash.

6. Can the volume of the product be reduced?

Stock control and forecasting will reduce the cost and wastage associated with buying too much. This is particularly true of items with controlled shelf lives or best-before dates, such as food. Other items such as spare parts may suffer from obsolescence eg; stocks of printer cartridges may be wasted if printers are replaced.

HCGC Sustainability Policy

We aim to address our operations through the following ten areas:

Food and Drink: We aim to consider the following criteria when purchasing food and drink; costs, locality of source, packaging, fair-trade practices, nutritional quality, and where relevant organic status, transport distance, meat and dairy content. We hope to ensure that food and drink consumed on site will be locally sourced, fair-trade and or organic.

Purchasing and Procurement: We have developed a purchasing and procurement policy which makes explicit our organisations commitment to ethical purchasing.  We aim to ensure that all products and services used by our organisation are necessary, local sourced, fairly traded, reused or  recycled and/ recyclable.  We also commit to considering factors of lifespan, quality and cost in our purchasing and procurement process. 

Energy and Water: We purchase our electricity from an energy supplier that uses 100% renewable sources. We are currently developing a sustainable irrigation and water harvesting system and are committed to seeking ways to reduce our energy and water usage.

Travel: We encourage staff, volunteers, service users, customers and visitors to our organisation to walk, cycle and use public transport whenever possible.  Our company vehicle is dual fuel, powered by Liquid Petroleum Gas and is used only when necessary.

Buildings and Management: We continue to identify ways in which we can make our sites more environmentally and socially responsible. We will ensure that actions are taken to promote a culturally diverse population and constantly finding ways to increase bio-diversity both on sites, in our local neighbourhoods and across the Greater Manchester Area.

Inclusion and Participation: We provide staff and volunteers with support and training to ensure they are able to work in a safe environment and to their full potential. We will work with local communities and organisations to help create a more sustainable, inclusive and equitable future.

Partnership and Promotion: We will continue to support existing partnerships and develop new networks to achieve sustainable and integrated outcomes and actively promote and celebrate our joints endeavours and achievements.

Waste: We aim to reduce the amount of waste we produce, as far as possible. In particular we hope to minimise the amount of waste sent to landfill. We will achieve this by reducing consumption,  only purchasing when necessary and reusing and recycling whenever possible.

Governance and Management: HCGC is committed to a transparent and ethical system of governance. We aim to operate with clear and legal policies in all relevant areas and to engaging with all stakeholders with regard to our current practice and future development at all levels of the organisation. We consider this to be important to ensuring a sustainable and equitable work place.

Finance and Funding:  We acknowledge the financial sustainability is a factor in our decision making process and are committed to operating sustainably in this area. We committed to considering the ethical practice and sustainability of all our funders and to valuing our sustainability as an organisation by recognising that funding is an integral part of sustainable practice as opposed to being a separate and superior priority.

Review Date: February 2012