Driving Social Value: Waterstons & St Cuthbert’s Hospice

Social Value Partner St Cuthbert's

At the heart of every social value initiative lies collaboration. The powerful partnership between Waterstons and St Cuthbert’s Hospice is a perfect example of how working together can deliver valuable savings for charities.

 

St Cuthbert’s Hospice provides free care and support to those coping with life-limiting illnesses, approaching the end of life and families who are bereaved. Each year, the charity’s Christmas tree recycling programme brings together local volunteers, businesses and supporters to raise vital funds for the Durham-based organisation. The scheme allows members of the public to make a donation and in return the charity will collect your tree, hassle-free and take it away to be sustainably recycled. 

 

But behind the festive spirit was a logistical challenge: managing hundreds of addresses, dozens of volunteers, fluctuating schedules, and routes that changed constantly. The process was time-consuming, complex, and left the team of volunteers totally exhausted.

The Social Value Challenge

The charity had a limited budget and a small team of co-ordinators who needed to make the process quicker and more efficient without compromising the quality of the service. The team was entering data manually and planning routes with Google maps. Administering the scheme took hours, and it was difficult to plan efficiently to change or reassign routes when volunteers were unavailable.

 

St Cuthbert’s needed a smarter, more efficient way to manage collections. The main goal was to save time so they could focus on what mattered most: caring for patients and raising funds.

Social Value through Powerful Partnerships

 

The Solution: Partnership in Action

This is where Waterstons stepped in. Working with the hospice team, they mapped out the entire process, identifying pain points and suggesting improvements.

 

Together, they developed:

    • A documented, simplified process to improve clarity and coordination.

    • A central ‘skeleton document’ to keep all collections and contact details in one place.

    • Integration of RouteXL, a route-planning web app that automatically generated efficient volunteer routes.

    • Remote support and testing, ensuring the system worked seamlessly during the live campaign.

Volunteers received easy-to-follow digital routes complete with QR codes, map links and customer requests, making their collections smoother, quicker and more enjoyable.

The Results: Record-Breaking Success

The social value project delivered exceptional results and the team were delighted:

    • In total 769 Christmas trees were collected, a 23% increase on the previous year.

    • Over £12,000 of donations were raised, which equals three days of vital hospice care.

    • Average donations per tree increased by £2, generating an additional £4,800.

    • Volunteers reported a more positive experience, with better coordination and less stress.

To get involved either as a volunteer or to take advantage of the Christmas tree collection scheme visit St Cuthbert’s Hospice

 

This project also highlights how corporate partnerships can make a tangible difference in the local community. Waterstons’ expertise in technology and process improvement complemented the hospice’s deep understanding of community engagement. Together, they created a solution that was practical, sustainable, and scalable for future years. The system is now in place to support future campaigns, meaning St Cuthbert’s can build on this success year after year.

 

Waterstons’ commitment to delivering social value goes beyond donating time or resources — it’s about creating long-term benefits for organisations that matter. By applying their technical skills to real-world challenges, they are helping charities become more resilient, efficient and impactful. This project exemplifies how a small change in process can create a ripple effect of positive outcomes.

 

The partnership between Waterstons and St Cuthbert’s Hospice demonstrates that when businesses and charities work together, they can achieve remarkable things. It’s a reminder that social value isn’t just about money — it’s about innovation, empathy and community spirit working hand in hand.

 

Read more about our Social Value goals and objectives