An initiative to help third-sector community organisations access support and practical help from NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde suppliers has won a major award at a prestigious national ceremony.
The Community Benefit Project, run by NHSGGC in partnership with the Supplier Development Programme (SDP), was named Public Procurement Project of the Year at the GO Awards Scotland.
The award was presented at a ceremony in Glasgow this week, held to celebrate the very best procurement achievements from across Scotland’s public, private and third sector organisations.
The Community Benefit Gateway is a free and easy-to-use online service that connects NHS suppliers with third-sector community organisations across Scotland.
And as the country’s largest health board, NHSGGC is committed to using its status as an Anchor Organisation to share a range of benefits among the communities it serves, and to help people beyond the provision of health and social care services.
While it encourages third-sector organisations to consider signing up to access the goods and services they need through the Community Benefits Gateway, the service has remained an often untapped resource.
The aim of the award-winning Community Benefit Project was to change that, by bringing together NHSGGC’s Procurement and Health Improvements teams, and collaborating with SDP, to grow use of the Gateway.
This project built on NHSGGC’s existing partnership with SDP, and the two organisations worked together to build awareness and extend reach, provide training to improve application submission quality, and support contractors to link supply chain spend with local community needs.
The result was stronger links between NHSGGC suppliers and community organisations, helping to stimulate a health and wellbeing economy across Greater Glasgow and Clyde, while embedding procurement as a driver of community wealth building.
The Community Benefit Project wasn’t the only success for NHSGGC on awards night, with the board’s Warp It projectalso being highly commended in the Best Net Zero Procurement Initiative category.
Warp-It is an initiative that facilitates the reuse and recycling of furniture, fixtures, and general supplies to reduce waste and procurement costs.
Chris Sanderson, Head of Procurement at NHSGGC, said: “I would like to congratulate everyone involved in the Community Benefit Project. This award is fitting testament to their hard work in making this important initiative a success.
“It’s been a highly effective collaboration between our Procurement and Health Improvement teams, and I would like to acknowledge the work of Angela Ingram, Zofia McFarlane and Brian Roach, who have been such driving forces throughout.
“We have an annual trade spend of more than £900 million within Greater Glasgow and Clyde, and Community Benefits allow us to support a huge range of third-sector and community organisations, providing goods, services and expertise for the benefit of everyone.
“The Community Benefit Project will help to ensure these benefits continue to make a difference to the lives of people in this area.
“I would also like to congratulate the Warp-It team led by Elaine Gray and Charles Connolly for their Highly Commended award, as well as the other NHSGGC initiatives that were shortlisted.
“The fact that five projects in total were vying for awards shows the skills and innovation of our staff, as well as the importance we place on ensuring our procurement processes bring value not only to NHSGGC but also to local businesses and the wider community.”
FIND OUT MORE:
Inverclyde Shed – a Community Benefit success story – here.
Five top tips on getting the most from the Community Benefit Gateway – here.
- The Supplier Development Programme is a business support initiative using training and information to improve the competitiveness of local businesses. It is a partnership of Local Authorities, Scottish Government and other public bodies, supporting businesses in all aspects of tendering and helping them to become more able to tender effectively for public-sector contracts.
