CareTech has set out its sustainability achievements in its third annual Purpose Report.

Two years on from launching CareTech’s CARE4 sustainability and responsible business strategy, the report sets out its key achievements.

Jonathan Freeman, group sustainability director, commented:
“The range of activity across all areas of CareTech to place
sustainability at the centre of our business model highlights a maturing of our approach as well as a growing understanding of what is required to deliver on our ambitious agenda.”

Chief executive Haroon Sheikh added: “At the heart of CareTech has always been the conviction that social purpose and moral values are the most important measure against which we judge long-term success. This report shows that this approach runs deep across the company, with remarkable achievements having been delivered by colleagues across the business, for which I am profoundly grateful.

“Building sustainability targets in to our core business planning and management reporting processes is a significant step forward. This demonstrates powerfully that CareTech embraces the sustainability agenda as ‘business as usual’. Our CARE4 agenda is not an optional extra but is at the very core of how we do business.”

Key achievements include:

• a 50% reduction in direct carbon emissions in the last year achieved through measures, including switching fully to renewables electricity tariffs. In the last three years, the group has reduced total direct and indirect carbon emissions by 13%, and reduced carbon emissions per FTE staff member by 19%.

• 104 services participated in Care Home Open Week, up 30% from last year. The group considers participation in Championing Social Care’s national initiative to deepen awareness and understanding of the positive value that social care provides as an important element of its community commitment.

• Ranking 54^th in the 2023 Top 100 Apprenticeships Employers list, the highest-placed social care provider in the country. More generally, 43% of staff have been funded to undertake qualifications while working for CareTech.

• 20% of staff undertaking charitable fundraising activities, with match-funding provided by the independent CareTech Foundation. The CareTech Foundation has now has supported over 1,900, 000 people worldwide since its establishment in 2018.

• 93% of children in the group’s care feel positive about where they live, as measured through the award-winning Mind of My Own digital app that helps children and young people express themselves and communicate with professionals.

• Purple Tuesday 2023, the global disabled customer celebration day delivered by CareTech’s Purple subsidiary, was the most successful ever. The campaign trended at #1 on the social media platform X, had an audience reach of 29.5 million and prompted 3,475 items of media coverage.

• Over 3,500 staff – 33% of all relevant staff – have already completed the group’s new online sustainability training course. This new course supports staff in rolling out the group’s new service-based CARE4 One Planet Living programme.

• CareTech launched EnableAll, the world’s first truly accessible online marketplace platform. EnableAll is a one-stop-shop which enables equality and inclusion for disabled people, economic opportunities for merchants, and an ethical alternative for conscious consumers.