Here at LAS, we love using our digital learning design and development skills to make life that bit better. Giving back is something that is very important to us.
We've been involved in a number of social projects to improve skills for under-represented groups, to enhance well-being and to help with big societal problems. Here are some examples of the projects we have worked on. We are also proud to support a number of fantastic charities through our profits.
If you are a third sector organisation or have an idea for a social project using digital learning, we'd love to hear from you.
Each year the LAS team choose a selection of charities to donate a proportion of our profits to. These are charities that are supported by team members through volunteering, fundraising or personal donations. They may also have helped them, their families and/or friends through difficult times or they are charities whose purpose and work we admire. This year we are very proud to be supporting three fantastic organisations:
MOLLy olly's wishes - Molly Olly’s Wishes supports children with life-threatening illnesses and their families to help with their emotional wellbeing. They grant individual wishes and donate therapeutic toys and books to both children directly and to hospitals throughout the UK.
young minds - Nominated for the second time, YoungMinds plays a vital role in fighting for children and young people's mental health. It provides them with tools to look after their mental health and empowers adults to be the best support they can be to the young people in their lives.
bowel cancer uk - Bowel Cancer UK is determined to save lives and improve the quality of life of everyone affected by bowel cancer. They provide education and support to patients and their families, campaign, fund research and educate the public and professionals about the disease.
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SOBS (Survivors of bereavement by suicide) - SOBS is a network of support groups run by volunteers who themselves have lost a loved one to suicide. Each year in the UK, more than 6000 people take their own life – each suicide has a devastating and lasting impact on their families, friends and communities. SOBS exist to meet the needs and break the isolation experienced by those bereaved by suicide. They aim to provide a safe, confidential environment in which bereaved people can share their experiences and feelings, so giving and gaining support from each other.
Treesisters - TreeSisters fund the planting of trees to restore ecosystems and livelihoods whilst increasing protection against the extremes of climate change in multiple regions of the tropical forest belt. They do this in ways that recreate and restore natural forest ecosystems using indigenous species, fostering local knowledge and skills, and promoting women's participation. We're delighted to have funded 2,500 trees this year.
Helping hands community project - Helping Hands work with people in need in Warwickshire, UK, where our HQ is based. They provide furniture, clothes and utensils for people who are homeless or setting up a home with few resources, run coat collections for the homeless and a Christmas shoe box appeal to provide a bit of festive cheer to kids from disadvantaged homes.
Plan International UK - A children's charity taking action for children's rights. They encourage and help children, particularly girls in developing countries, to take an active role on finding solutions to their problems and realising their rights and full potential.
Zoe's Place Baby Hospice Coventry - Zoe's Place provides palliative, respite and end-of-life care to babies and infants suffering form life-limiting or life-threatening conditions.
Buddy Bag Foundation - Buddy Bags are essential items in a rucksack for children entering emergency care after fleeing violent situations at home.
Young Minds - Helps children and young people through mental health difficulties, so that they are supported and empowered, whatever their challenges.
We have been running our Learning eXperience Design course for free in 2020 to help individuals and organisations adapt to a rapidly changing environment.
Instead of charging a fee, we asked participants to consider giving a donation to our chosen cohort charity. The response from our learners has been phenomenal and we've been able to raise hundreds of £ for Help Refugees (April charity), WaterAid (June charity) and Action Against Hunger (October charity) to help people in developing countries and those in refugee camps to stay safe from Covid19 - THANK YOU!
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Obesity is a real and growing problem in the UK. It costs the National Health Service (NHS) and the economy £billions per year. More importantly, it detrimentally affects the health and wellbeing of hundreds of thousands of people, putting them at a much higher risk of some illnesses and diseases.
If weight issues can be successfully addressed in childhood by embedding healthier habits around diet and exercise, their quality of life as adults will be dramatically improved.
LAS partnered with Health Education England and worked with obesity experts and health psychologists to create two innovative linked behaviour change apps. The first helps families set realistic goals to improve their health and wellbeing and make incremental steps towards achieving those goals. The second app links to the first to help health professionals provide better support to them in their journeys
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People are living longer and our aging population means that the social care sector needs to grow substantially. Care workers are often low paid and under-supported, and yet it is vital that they are well-trained and able to deal appropriately and safely with care situations as they arise.
The care workforce is often dispersed, mobile and time-poor. Budgets are tight and care managers need staff to learn on the job. At the time, the available social care elearning was not fit for purpose, requiring lengthy spells at a computer and being very much tell-and-test, rather than performance-based.
LAS partnered with Sara Dunn Associates to win funding from the Ufi to create engaging online learning and performance support for the care sector, delivered to their phones, which harnesses the learning potential of everyday care work.
These bite-sized resources are concise, workplace-specific and can be done in the time it takes to make a cup of tea.
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In February 2019 , LAS was awarded Plastic Free status by our local Surfers Against Sewage Plastic Free Campaign, as part of the drive for the town where our HQ is situated to become a plastic free community.
We have always been mindful of our impact on the environment and believe that it's vital for businesses to reduce their use of avoidable single-use plastic. All of our team, contractors and partners sign up to a manifesto to eliminate at least three single use plastics from their work environment. We make sure that single-use plastic is kept to an absolute minimum by doing things such as providing reusable coffee cups and water bottles to our team, using refillable pens (or no pens when we're using tablets) and using cardboard folders instead of plastic ones.
If every business did this, just imagine what a positive difference that would make. If you're interested in doing the same for your business you can find out more via the link below.
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