The Social Value Tea 🍵: Week of July 3, 2025
Hello! đź‘‹ Nil here, delivering all your weekly social value tea.
From fading rainbow logos to vanishing education budgets, this week’s edition explores what happens when good intentions meet hard realities. We spotlight the stories behind the headlines, where allyship, ESG, and impact investing are being tested, reshaped, or quietly rolled back.
But there are signals of hope too: practical allyship, local investment strategies, and tough questions being asked about how we build for real change.
Dive in. xx
PS. Don’t forget we have a webinar all about MeasureUp next week and we’d love you to join us!
News news!
Stories you might have missed.
- Pride month is ending—but real allyship must last all year
Impact Reporting’s founders reminds businesses that Pride isn’t a seasonal trend—it’s a constant commitment. They outline practical steps, from inclusive benefits and procurement to visible support and community partnerships, that ensure genuine LGBTQ+ allyship, not just a rainbow logo once a year. Read more → LinkedIn - Trump Blocks $7 Bn in Education Funding
President Trump’s administration is withholding nearly $7 bn in federal school funding mid-stream, triggering major backlash. The delay affects after-school care, mental health services, and support for migrants and English-language learners, raising concerns about politicisation of essential social programmes. Read more → New York Times - Aberdeen scraps £3.6 m Financial Fairness Trust amid ESG pullback
Aberdeen Group has ended its Financial Fairness Trust (established in 2009), cutting £3.6 m in promised grants to UK social-research bodies. Critics see this as part of a broader ESG rollback, which is raising concerns. Read more → The FT - Finance firms’ “save the world” claims were “a huge mistake”
Sir Douglas Flint, outgoing chair of Aberdeen Group (and ex-HSBC), warns that asset managers’ inflated ESG claims expose them to legal risk. He advocates shifting focus from marketing pledges to clear business-linked climate strategies. The move away from “ESG” terminology reflects growing pressures, particularly from US regulators. Read more → The Guardian - Future of Schroder BSC Social Impact under threat as trust unveils strategic review
The Schroder BSC Social Impact Trust has launched a strategic review after struggling to scale and facing a persistent discount to NAV. Options include a managed wind-down, policy overhaul, or capital return, with over 60% of assets tied up in long-dated impact investments. Read more→ Investment Week
Caught our eye…
Interesting reads worth sharing.
Social Value Chat: Unpacking the UK Sustainability Reporting Standards Exposure Draft
By doing nothing, you risk reputational damage, procurement exclusion, and loss of investor confidence. If your impact data isn’t credible, auditable, or comparable, then it doesn’t count: not in capital markets, not in supply chains, and not in public procurement. Read
Social Value: The New Standard in Public Procurement
In the latest Government & Public Sector Journal, Joel Smith, Atos’s Head of Public Sector & Defence, explores how the Procurement Act 2023 and the upcoming Social Value Model are transforming how government spends. Read
The ties between company culture and social impact
At Ragan’s Employee Experience Conference, August 5-7 at Disneyland in California, Julie Lane, head of social impact operations at Cisco, will give a presentation on how organizations can scale their social outreach efforts and share them with their colleagues and the broader public. Read
Spotlight on: Social Value Voices
Great examples of social value work worth showcasing
Infrastructure spotlight: A bold foundation for long-term social impact
Andy Mitchell CBE reflects on the Thames Tideway project’s success—built on a clear vision, strong culture, and fair partnerships—and argues that the government’s new ten-year infrastructure plan should be equally “bold and ambitious” to foster lasting community and economic benefits.
Podcast pick: Resilience as the next frontier of social impact
Nyika Brain champions a shift in social impact—arguing that managing social risk builds vital business resilience, and that genuine partnership, governance, and community listening should be core to ESG strategies .
Skills for Life: Social impact that actually changes lives
Stuart Howorth’s post is a reminder that not all social value needs to be overengineered—sometimes it’s about showing up, mentoring young people, and helping them build CVs, confidence, and careers. It’s refreshingly human, and exactly the kind of thing the sector should be scaling.
LinkedIn spotlight: Why I’m still hopeful about Social Value
Jude McVitty offers a heartfelt reflection on the exhaustion and disillusionment that can accompany social value work—but defends it fiercely as a vocation worth fighting for. Amid the setbacks, she reminds us that directing real funding, creating real jobs, and making things just a little bit better is still something to believe in.
Crown UK: Place-based social impact done properly
Crown Worldwide shares a powerful account of how long-term listening and local partnerships in Enfield helped shape a grounded, credible approach to social value. It’s a great example of moving beyond generic CSR and really rooting impact in the needs of place.
Who’s hiring?
Here’s this week’s latest social value jobs list, published every Friday via our LinkedIn company page.
- Social Value Implementation Lead at Ridge and Partners LLP: https://lnkd.in/e9BXC2sV
- Social Value Coordinator at Kier Group: https://lnkd.in/dT8iSXiS
- Social Value Manager at Kier Group: https://lnkd.in/dH-4-M7t#
- Social Value Manager at Bidvest Noonan: https://lnkd.in/dRzezwaQ
- UK Social Value & EMEA Partnerships Manager at Thermo Fisher Scientific: https://lnkd.in/dS_cufVw
- Social Value Coordinator at Amersco Inc: https://lnkd.in/eSif3Xe5S
- Social Value Manager – Infrastructure Project at Mace: https://lnkd.in/eYg3rKYa
- Social Value Global Services Lead at Mace: https://lnkd.in/ex4ReYGH
- ESG Strategy and Data Analyst at Asda: https://lnkd.in/d7E8hPAk
- ESG Data Analyst, Manchester at Fitch Solutions: https://lnkd.in/dF73q8_Q
- Environmental, Social & Governance Manager (ESG) – Part Time at PSI Services LLC: https://lnkd.in/dHhGWm-6
- Director of ESGÂ at Just Eat Takeaway.com: https://lnkd.in/dhtiYKbi
- ESG Programme Manager at Nidec Drives: https://lnkd.in/dUJmqkeR
- Head of ESG Data at Neuberger Berman: https://lnkd.in/dqVfJ7Vq
- ESG Data & Digital Manager at Mondelēz International: https://lnkd.in/dJ2kveRz
- ESG Specialist at Ferrari Group: https://lnkd.in/dd64MGUE
- ESG Programme Director at Centrica: https://lnkd.in/dTR_eFSy
- Social Impact Manager at RSA: https://lnkd.in/ddRmcBJk
- Partnerships and Social Impact Officer at Riverlution: https://lnkd.in/dASm-CWS
 
🎙️Spotlight on: MeasureUp Workshop Summer Showcase
Open invitation to learn more about MeasureUp
We’ve been busy here at MeasureUp and would love to update you!
On Wednesday 9th July at 12 noon, join us for a live summer showcase walking through everything that’s new at MeasureUp:
🆕 Four new values released – including charity shops, youth mental health, and workplace tech
🌍 Environmental valuation is here – Scope 3 emissions now live, more to come
🔧 Our Ideal Value Set – our effort to bring well-being, procurement priorities, VCSE activity and business action into a single aligned framework
📍 Local Impact – how we’re embedding needs analysis into every value
🔎 A short demo of how to access and use the updated website and new value structure
Whether you’re a current user, considering adoption, or just exploring what’s out there – this session is designed to give you clarity, context, and confidence into MeasureUp, WELLBY, Wellbeing and Social Value Done Right.
đź‘ĄWhere to be
Upcoming events, awards deadlines and networking opportunities
- NatWest SE100 Social Business Awards 2025 will take place July 15 in Manchester
- Understanding Social Value will take place July 8 at Solihull College (Lauren Walker from Impact Reporting speaking)
- Maximising Social Value in Your Business will take place July 8 in Staffordshire
- Measuring and Reporting your Social Value will take place July 10 in Manchester
- Social value in energy – what is it and how to support its delivery will take place July 10 at Durham University
- Social Value Business – The Impact in Gloucestershire will take place July 16
- BBP Social Value Committee will take place July 17 in Birmingham
- The Procurement Plug will take place August 26th in Glasgow (Catherine Manning from Impact Reporting speaking)
Want to get this news straight to your inbox?
About the author
