Social Value 101 - Community is the Work
July 25, 2025Posted by:
By Dr Craig Corrigan, Social Value Solutions Manager, PeoplePlus
When I logged into our most recent SRAG Lunch and Learn, I asked the group a very important opening question:
“When’s the right time to eat a Kit-Kat?”
I'm always a little bit nervous when I chair SRAG events, because getting the tone right matters for outcomes. So I was relieved to get a laugh of recognition that broke the ice, and gave people a moment to settle. The session that developed was relaxed, and fun - and valuable.
Cameras were on and off. Hands went up. Comments came through in the chat. But more than that - people showed up with honesty, support, and a shared sense of purpose. Around 40 employers joined the call, and we covered a lot:
- Recognition for DHL, G4S, Smart Solutions and others making moves on social value.
- Live asks for help, including mentoring in schools and outreach to young people.
- Policy updates from Emma Grigson, who walked us through PPN 02/23, the upcoming Employment Rights legislation, and what businesses need to be thinking about before October 1st.
- And plenty of ground-level insight shared by attendees about Springpod, Youth Employment UK, be/Impact, RideTandem, Standing Tall and other strategic partners working on tough challenges like reaching prison leavers, supporting people experiencing homelessness or tackling workplace inequality.
We also heard from Sarah Caton at Inspiration for All, who asked for just two more mentors to join their leadership programme matching business leaders with school headteachers. She called it “goosebump engagement with future talent.” The best social value work doesn’t just tick boxes - it changes people, and reflections of those goosebump moments are priceless.
I’ve worked in community-focused roles most of my adult life - sport, education, social value delivery - and there’s a throughline in all of it: progress comes from people talking to people. Policies alone won't cut it, and brilliant planning risks staying on the page. It takes shared space, shared questions, and sometimes shared Kit-Kats.
The culture of this network matters. And I don’t just mean being friendly or well-meaning - I mean building the kind of trust where people can say, “Here’s what’s working,” and just as importantly, “Here’s where we’re stuck.”
It's through connection that the work moves forward. Not through perfection, but through community. You can have the best social value strategy in the world - but if your team, your partners, and your peers can't reach each other to really connect, it won’t land.
It's backed up by research. The What Works Centre for Wellbeing, collective impact frameworks, and public value studies all say the same thing: relational infrastructure - the quality of the relationships around the work - is what holds long-term outcomes together.
So yes, we talk a lot in SRAG about frameworks, policy, funding, and strategy. That’s what gets you in the room.
But what drives your commitment is community.
This is why people stick around after the session or drop a helpful link in the chat. Then they follow up with an offer or just ask for advice and don’t feel daft doing it.
It's what makes me so proud to be part of this network - not because we have all the answers, but because we’re willing to keep asking better questions. And because together we've learned how to build a room that feels human.
Next time we run a Lunch and Learn, I hope you’ll join us.
Bring your questions, and updates. Bring your biscuit of choice (make it a packet - you may want to share).
Because when it comes to social value, community isn’t just the backdrop - building it is the work.
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July 25, 2025Posted by:
