Each month ELBA catches up with a different Corporate Social Responsibility professional or champion to hear their thoughts on CSR and to find out about the latest developments at their company. This month we spoke to Mel Husnu, Compliance Lead at Alexander Ash Consulting. Mel has worked with ELBA staff to develop and deliver an exciting range of different volunteering activities including practical Team Challenges, CV Skills Workshops and Careers Junction sessions at east London secondary schools. She does this in addition to her day job, making her a real volunteering champion!

Hi Mel, tell us about your role at Alexander Ash Consulting
Day to day I am the Compliance Lead at Alexander Ash Consulting, however I also successfully manage and organise all of our events and CSR programme. I continuously drive and support the company to encourage all members of the team to actively partake in charity days and events.

Why is CSR important to your organisation?
The Founders of Alexander Ash Consulting are firm supporters in giving back to charity; our office is situated in Islington which has one of the highest poverty rates in the UK. This is one of the reasons why we actively encourage the team to get involved with charities within the area. Also a number of the team, including myself, live locally so working with various local charities enables us to give back to our local community.

Which topics, themes or initiatives are your organisation currently focused on?
Alexander Ash is proud to have a diverse group of people among the team; we are able to focus on a number of projects so everyone gets to work with different charities they are passionate about. Some of the projects we have been involved in include working with food banks and giving motivational talks to local schools. One of the team’s favourite CSR days are the tea parties at a number of the local care homes; we have our next day lined up at the Hackney Caribbean Elderly Organisation which the team can’t wait to return to following the success and fun at last year’s event!

What is the best part of your job?
As I’ve worked at Alexander Ash for nearly 5 years, I’ve helped introduce a number of positive changes within the company, not only allowing my role to grow, but also developing myself. One of the benefits of working at Alexander Ash is that I feel supported by the management and my opinion is valued. The people I work with and variation of my role adds to this. It’s great organising our CSR days as the team always have really positive feedback and thoroughly enjoy the days. Furthermore, doing something meaningful by taking time out to help those in need and seeing the positive impact you have made on others’ lives is a massive reality check.