Each month ELBA catch 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 Sophie Hinder-Walbank, Marketing and Communications Manager at TH Real Estate. Sophie has developed a varied CSR programme at TH Real Estate’s London office, working with ELBA to deliver a range of different community interventions – all on top of her day job!

Hi Sophie, tell us about your role at TH Real Estate
I’m a Marketing and Communications Manager, and part of my role encompasses employee engagement. This comes in handy when managing our global charitable initiatives, as I have a good insight into how our employees think and their expectations from the business. Providing our people with opportunities to give back to the local communities in which we invest is a key requirement.

Why is CSR important to your organisation?
Responsible investing and all things ESG are central to our company values – and the values of our clients. Therefore, it’s important that our employees also live and breathe these values – we practice what we preach! I’m still amazed at the level of enthusiasm and support that we have for ‘giving back’ from within the organisation – and this passion is driven from the top as well as the bottom. For example, our Head of TH Real Estate, Mike Sales, is always getting stuck in with other volunteers when it comes to Career Insight visits. Setting an example is crucial when it comes to encouraging the wider employee base to get involved.

I’m based at our London headquarters, in the financial district of one of the wealthiest cities in the world. And being in close proximity to communities who have so much to offer also acts as a constant reminder that we can support the communities in which we live and work. We count ourselves lucky that our skill sets and the networks in which we operate can be utilised easily with the help of charities such as ELBA.

Which topics, themes or initiatives are your organisation currently focused on?
When we set up our Employee Volunteering Programme back in 2014, employees were asked to vote on the cause they wanted to support collectively – and I’m delighted they chose young people’s education and employability. Four years on, we are still supporting and nurturing young people and future leaders across the globe, linking well with our company goal of investing in ‘Tomorrow’s World’.

What is the best part of your job?
Working with the wonderful ELBA team – Jon, Abi, Selina, Deryl and Kerry!!

On a serious note – it’s got to be the people. Whether that’s my lovely volunteers at TH Real Estate who are incredibly committed to helping others, or meeting the impressive young people we work with. I always come away with a smile on my face!