As we continue the serialisation of our Report and Accounts from 2022-23, this week we hear from Dominic Hurndall, an unwaveringly supportive Corporate Partner to Word Forest.
Hear his view on the way charity partnerships of this kind can be beneficial to both organisations and the planet too.
Don’t forget, if you’d like to read or hear any of the previous episodes in this series, just visit WordForest.org/news.
The people of Oaklin are passionate about what they do, but they also care deeply that the firm they work for is playing its part in supporting local communities and protecting and restoring the environment. They care about empowering women and about offering education to those who have not had the same opportunities we enjoy. We have long felt that we should play a leading role as a business in helping society tackle these challenges. At first we were unsure about how we might take forward something constructive, fearing wasted investment and false flag opportunists, which is why we were so pleased to discover Word Forest.
With Tracey and her team, we have found a partner who tackles the big challenges we face as a global community, in one connected and co-ordinated response. Their approach brings reforestation, sustainable business, education and empowerment of women together in one ‘virtuous circle’. For us, the Word Forest approach is as refreshing as it is effective and is exactly what the SDGs are intended to encourage businesses towards.
We have been delighted to raise money for Word Forest and we are now proud to be helping them pursue Gold Standard accreditation for their projects, which we believe is the fastest way to help scale up the operation. We have made huge progress as a joint team over the last financial year and we are poised to make significant headway as the accreditation application is submitted in the weeks ahead. We are also helping Word Forest structure their offering to fit other corporate partners who would find as much value from working with them as we have. Businesses large and small must be at the vanguard of improving our world and striving to achieve a sustainable future. With Word Forest we are confident that we are making a fantastic contribution to achieving these critical goals.
Dominic Hurndall
