Apprenticeships and sustainability win awards

Friday 11 December 2015


Hand picking up litter

A successful apprenticeship programme and a drive to make Guy’s and St Thomas’ more environmentally responsible were both winners at the Health Business Awards 2015.

The Gateway Academy Business Administration Apprenticeship programme won the Healthcare Recruitment category in recognition of the fact that getting young people into work can change lives.

Guy’s and St Thomas’ has worked with Hawk Training and the National Skills Academy for Health to enrol 41 young people onto the programme since March 2014.

Its success is demonstrated by the evidence that six out of the nine apprentices in the first cohort went on to a full-time job, two more have an extended date to complete their apprenticeship, and the remaining apprentice is back in education.

The apprenticeship programme aims to be as inclusive as possible by supporting young people with autism, mobility needs and deafness.

Guy’s and St Thomas’ also won the Environmental Practice category of the Health Business Awards.

Our partnership with Bywaters for a total waste management service, collecting and disposing of all waste produced from our hospitals and community sites, has helped increase our recycling rate to 53%.

This recognition of the Trust’s commitment to managing its waste more sustainably came in the same week that Guy’s and St Thomas’ achieved the Carbon Trust Waste Standard.

Alan Armstrong, Trust Waste Manager, says: “Only a handful of NHS organisations have received this accreditation. We can be extremely proud to have achieved this Carbon Trust Standard with the highest waste management score of any organisation.

“We are committed to pursuing our waste and carbon reduction initiatives in the coming years.”

An example of an environmentally friendly initiative is that each month the Trust supplies 400 litres of used cooking oil from our catering services to Uptown Oil, a local company which blends it to make biofuel to power black cabs and buildings.

Last updated: March 2022

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