Creating A Legacy – September 2025
Celebrating the Power of Business Collaboration in County Durham
Kindly sponsored by BAM
In September 2025, Creating A Legacy brought together valued Partners, Supporters, associates, and allies of the County Durham Pound – a collaborative movement driving social value through strong partnerships between the public, private, and VCSE sectors – to reflect upon the progress we’ve made and to look ahead to how we can continue to set the gold standard in social value.
This was a celebration of all the positive impact our Partners and Supporters have delivered. One of the main goals of the day was to plot our course as to what the next steps on our social value mission would be.
The day started with an inspiring speech from Alan Smith, Chief Executive of believe housing, a County Durham “lad” whose passion for the region was evident by how active believe housing is in instilling a social value, work-based approach.
We were delighted to welcome two keynote speakers from BAM; both Nicola Komzolik-Nawn and Ryan Wilson took to the stage to update us on the BAM Community fund.
The newly-launched County Durham initiative provides community groups, charities and sports groups with the opportunity to apply for a range of grants from £5,000 to £20,000 to help support their plans. We were further inspired by the news of the work BAM is carrying out on the construction of the new St. Leonard’s Catholic School in Durham City Centre.
Our panel tackled a range of challenging questions on topical issues surrounding delivering social value. The debate made its way through discussing how charities, public bodies, and private companies can better collaborate to deliver transformational social value projects, if the current procurement and funding models are helping or hindering our goals, and what kind of leadership and culture is needed to embed transformational social value across an organisation.
Each of the panel was also asked to give an example of social value becoming truly impactful within their community, and not just a tick box exercise. The discussion finished on a positive note as we looked at some of the digital tools and data which can be used to enhance, rather than replace, human-centred social value delivery.
Whilst there were many standout moments of the day, the session delivered by Luke Joseph, Inclusion and Voice Practitioner at Durham County Council, deserves special recognition.
Luke shared with employers in the room what a valuable addition young people from a care background can be to a workplace. Breaking barriers and stereotypes, Luke championed how young people from a cared for background have a lot to add in terms of resilience and knowledge.
Luke referred to what he called the invisible cloak care leavers sometimes wear but for this not to be a deterrent for overlooking their potential.
The day was a celebration of the £1billion social value contribution delivered by County Durham Pound to the local economy. We highlighted some of the deliverables in terms of value of jobs created, apprenticeships delivered, and revenue generated, and furthermore we rejoiced in the people behind the projects and the communities supported by such initiatives.
Watch on to discover the projects County Durham Pound Partners have facilitated this year.
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