The Willmott Dixon Foundation was established in 2012 to guide, monitor and collate the social and community investment activities of the Willmott Dixon group of companies.

Every community is different, so we work with our customers and other stakeholders to identify local needs and priorities and then develop activities which will have the most benefit.

In the eight years since we established the Willmott Dixon Foundation, we have impacted the lives of many people – last year alone we enhanced the life chances of over 2,000 young people.

The impact on over a third of those young people was so great that we can genuinely say we transformed their life chances. In July 2019, over a year early, we met our 2020 target – to enhance the life chances of 10,000 young people.

Despite meeting our target, we haven’t rested on our laurels and continue to work hard to make a difference. During 2019 we further developed our Building Lives Academies, which provide training and access to employment for local people, including ex-offenders and young people not in employment, education or training (NEETs). Five Building Lives Academies were established in 2019 and resulted in 45% of our graduates gaining employment.

We also continued to work with schools and colleges, offering over 700 work experience placements. More than 32,000 students attended our school programmes which support students’ employability and the school or college in meeting their Gatsby Benchmark targets for career development.

For more information on our approach, focus and targets click here.

Click here to view 'The difference we are making' poster for 2019, which details how we have invested in both our people and the community, and what we’ve delivered in the community.