Meet the charity aiming to make Salford 10% better

A charity in Salford is aiming to make the city ‘10%’ better by encouraging businesses to commit to making “small changes that will make a difference”.

Salford’s 10% Better campaign initiated by the Social Value Alliance has already made a positive difference.

The campaign was initiated to improve wellbeing and quality of life of people who live in the city. This is done through involving private sector businesses, public sector organisations, voluntary and community groups and social enterprises. All sectors are invited to consider the social value they bring to the city and to make a pledge to do 10 per cent more.

There are 11 specific outcomes which the campaign is hoping to achieve by 2021.

So far, 60 pledges have been made by various businesses and organisations in order to achieve any of the outcomes listed above.

Deb Drinkwater, a Social Value Development Worker said that the aim of the Social Value Alliance is to use social value in order to make Salford better, and this is where the campaign comes in.

There are already great things happening in Salford, and a campaign like this doesn’t ask people and organisations to do something different to what they’re already doing, quite often they are already giving back to their communities, and we’re asking them to do a little bit more.

She added that the campaign has had a good response so far because businesses are really committed to giving back to the communities in which they are based and the campaign enables them to achieve that.

When asked about why making Salford only 10 per cent better instead of making it 100 per cent better, Deb stated that doing double of what you are already doing is quite a big ask while the 10 per cent is feasible and it’s more realistic for organisations.

“For me it’s about making a realistic shift. What we notice when we get pledges is that a lot of organisations do 10 per cent and more, people are committing to do more than what we are asking.

“These small changes will make a difference, the more organisations we have on board the greater the success of the campaign.”

The Social Value Alliance encourages businesses in Salford to get on board with the campaign and to do a little more than what they’re already doing in order to make Salford a better place to live and work.