CSR
We take our responsibility towards the community in which we live seriously
Staff are encouraged to engage in community support work and projects both during office hours and outside. We do this by granting extra holidays for days spent on worthwhile causes whilst at work and advertising widely the activities. We also match-fund any amounts produced as a result. Involvement in community projects also provides us with a valuable source of personal learning and development as well as enabling us to deliver important professional advice and support.
We have our own charitable trust, the VWV's Charitable Trust, which makes regular grants to regionally based charities and which provides substantial financial support to our Charities of the Year for London, Watford, Bristol and Birmingham. Such charities have included within recent years The Haven, Peace Hospice Care, the Julian Trust Night Shelter, St Basils, Bristol Children's Help Society, The Charlie Waller Memorial Trust, the Rainbow Centre, Avon Outward Bound, MusicSpace, Windmill Hill City Farm, Sailability, St Peter's Hospice, BRACE and St Mungo's Broadway.
Each year, staff from VWV's offices in London, Watford, Bristol and Birmingham nominate their chosen charity of the year. Our current nominated charities for 2017/18 are:
In addition to financially and directly supporting local charities, the Trust also donates funds to Quartet. Set up in 1987, Quartet is an independent registered charity which manages and distributes funds on behalf of individuals, companies, charitable trusts and statutory agencies primarily to meet needs in the West of England. Their aims are therefore very much in tune with our emphasis in supporting local charitable causes.
Home Start Camden offers free support and practical help to parents of children under five who are going through a difficult time. Set up 20 years ago, the charity aims to increase parenting skills and confidence, reduce isolation and help families make better use of local services.
Home Start Watford and Three Rivers volunteers help families with young children deal with the challenges they face, such as post-natal depression, isolation or bereavement, by providing emotional and practical support. The charity was established in 1993 and helps over 120 families each year.
Ronald McDonald House, Bristol helps families with critically ill children by providing free accommodation and support whilst their child is in hospital. Ronald McDonald House Bristol opened in 2002 and has looked after 7,090 families over the years.
Women Acting in Today's Society offers holistic support to women, addressing issues such as welfare benefits, housing, domestic abuse, isolation, physical and mental health, etc.
The firm offers 'in-kind' support to Voscur through provision of meeting space. Voscur is a charity that provides direct support services and specialist advice to voluntary organisations and social enterprises across Bristol.
The firm offers 'in-kind' support to Square Food Foundation through provision of meeting space. One25 
reaches out to women trapped in, or vulnerable to, street sex work, supporting them to break free and build new lives away from violence, poverty and addiction.
They are a Bristol based charity, founded in 1995, and the only organisation specifically supporting street sex-working women.
The firm offers 'in-kind' support to Square Food 
Foundation through provision of meeting space. Square Food Foundation is a community cookery school and kitchen, based in Knowle West, that teach people from all walks of life to cook good food from scratch.
The students include adults with learning difficulties, older people at risk of social isolation, young people NEET, street sex workers supported by the One25 charity and more! To support their work with Bristol’s schools, community groups and charitable organisations, they deliver masterclasses, pop-ups and teambuilding workshops and use all profit to further their work with people who wouldn’t otherwise be able to afford to attend.
The firm offers 'in-kind' support to SARSAS through provision of meeting space. 
SARSAS is a charity that provides support to people who have experienced rape or any kind of sexual assault or abuse at any time in their lives.
As part of the relocation of our Bristol office to Narrow Quay House in November 2015, VWV donated office equipment and furniture to international charity Meningitis Research Foundation.
In 2015, Aardman’s internationally-acclaimed character Shaun the Sheep appeared in two ewe-nique art trails! Over 100 giant sculptures of Shaun the Sheep created by artists, celebrities and designers placed in iconic locations across Bristol and London.
Shaun in the City is brought to you by the team that created the award-winning Gromit Unleashed which saw Aardman’s loveable canine sidekick Gromit raise £2.3 million for the Bristol Children’s Hospital.
We were delighted to be a founding sponsor for a second year running, having previously sponsored Salty Sea Dog as part of the original Gromit Unleashed trail.
In the summer of 2013 we took part in Gromit Unleashed, an interactive art exhibition trail in Bristol. The trail concluded with the Gromit sculptures being auctioned, the sale of which has raised over 2 million pounds for the Grand Appeal, Bristol Children's hospital charity.
We are now the proud owners of Sir Gromit of Bristol, who sits in our Bristol office reception. To find out more about his journey, please watch the short video clip below by creative designer Ian Marlow.
The making of Sir Gromit of Bristol - Gromit Unleashed by Ian Marlow.
A few recent examples include: