Michael Cairo

Said the following about Julie Hollins:

“Julie has been a breath of fresh air and absolutely outstanding in regards to all of her charitable work undertaken in 2023 across the entire Churchill Group in particular on our key and main rail contracts based within the Transport Division which includes the UK's largest railway franchise Govia Thameslink Railway, With Julie's brilliant help and support accompanied with her desired passion in order to change people's lives for the better by working with a number of local organizations such as Shaw Trust, Drive Forward Foundation, Northern Rights and the Railway Children.

We have had some real tangible success positively impacting people’s lives specifically on the Govia Thameslink Railway contract working closely with the Shaw trust organization, we have succeeded in recruiting a number of individuals from difficult and challenging backgrounds in order to help them back into work, these amazing and inspirational individuals from the Shaw trust are now in full-time employment as Cleaning Operatives working out of Cambridge and Kings Cross Station giving them the future and opportunities they fully deserve, the client feedback has been nothing short of exceptional and Julie keeps on striving to make a difference to many more lives and really living up to our company values putting people first.

Additionally, Julie was at the forefront in regards to arranging and organizing for our Senior Management teams to act as mentors amazing individuals from the Drive Forward foundation helping build the confidence of care leavers in order to help them get back into work and giving them the much needed support required, I'm personally mentoring an amazing young chap who has a very bright future ahead of him and it's great working on various interview techniques to watch his confidence grow in all walks of life - this really hits homes just how impactful this work really is and thanks to Julie these wonderful connections have been made.

Furthermore, Julie arranged a care leaver’s insight day with the drive forward foundation at our head office in Fleet Street (London) whereby attendees had an introduction to our business and the FM industry and had an opportunity to network with leaders and hiring managers from our cleaning, transport, security and guest services divisions. Additionally, they were able to participate in interactive group activities and mock interviews.

The day was a great success with participants sharing their experiences, engaging in meaningful conversations, and establishing valuable connections through the exchange of contact information.

Suhag, one of the young people in attendance, commented on the event: “It was a really clear event to show the opportunities at Churchill Group. It isn’t often you attend an event where so many people can relate to each other.”

Julie Hollins, our Social Value Lead, said: “It was such a pleasure to host an inspirational group of young people. Thank you to Drive Forward Foundation for all the support and to all our leaders for engaging with those attending in such a powerful way and making the day a success. I am so proud to be part of the relationships we have started and can’t wait to see what we can do next!”

We are excited to continue developing our partnership with Drive Forward Foundation and supporting young people from all backgrounds into the workplace.“