I can I am

Giving back to local communities

Howdens' depots are part of the 800+ communities in which they serve. Our employees are from the communities where they work and through their work, they build networks and relationships with local builders, local businesses, and local people. That is why we think that our employees know what charitable support their communities need.

Every Howdens depot has a charity pot for use in their area. They can support larger, national charities if appropriate or they can donate to hospices, youth sports clubs or community groups. Whatever they think is best for the people in their community. Depots can also donate stock where needed. This was perhaps best demonstrated by our Belgian depots who donated €11k of kitchen appliances to help the relief efforts following the summer floods

For more details of what we've done in 2021, together with our commitments and targets for the future, see our full sustainability report here.

Inspiring and motivating young people

In 2020, we reported that Howdens had donated a fully fitted double-decker bus to the ‘I can & I am' charity. The charity's purpose is to inspire confidence in young people and ‘inflate balloons of self-belief'. The bus enables the ‘I can & I am' team to visit schools and host workshops for children.

In 2021, Howdens began a £100k partnership with ‘I can & I am'. This donation is used to cover the running costs of the bus and enable the ‘I can & I am' team to focus on delivering workshops and mentoring. Since May 2021, over 3,300 children have attended workshops on the bus, the majority of whom were between 10 and 15.

Find out more at: https://www.icanandiam.com/the-bus/

Solutions for independent living

Howdens continues to donate accessible kitchens to Leonard Cheshire Disability and installed 14 during 2021 (2020: 5).

Our kitchens have a huge impact on Leonard Cheshire's service users, enabling them to build and develop their life skills through cooking. This is beneficial for wellbeing with many recipients of our accessible kitchens noting that their confidence has improved, and they have become more independent as a result.

Our partnership with Leonard Cheshire is now in its seventeenth year and we look forward to donating more accessible kitchens and finding solutions for independent living in the year ahead.

Click here for more information on our partnership with Leonard Cheshire

Supporting local and national causes

Find out more about the incredible work that our teams do at a local and national level to support charitable causes.