Contribute – The Momentum Group

The Momentum Group is committed to being a business that is inclusive, equitable and sustainable. Our principal focus is around People, Place, Planet and Professionalism which is articulated through Momentum Contribute.

We ensure the business, its employees and its partners deliver a significant positive impact in the Liverpool City Region and beyond.

PEOPLE

The Momentum Group ensures the wellbeing of its team members through well-being initiatives and employee support programmes. We are committed to monitoring our team’s equality and diversity. We also support local people through apprenticeships and work experience programmes including those from disadvantaged groups and backgrounds.

Front exterior of The Momentum Group office building

PLACE

The Momentum Group contributes to the communities it draws from and works in, through corporate philanthropy via the Momentum Foundation, team volunteering, mentoring and fundraising activities. We are committed to helping charities to become more sustainable and reduce their carbon footprint, in order to help to reduce poverty and assist in addressing homelessness.

PLANET

The Momentum Group is committed to minimising its impact on its environment and is moving towards achieving net zero. By working collaboratively with clients, supply chain and other businesses, we aim to cut carbon emissions, minimise waste and reduce energy consumption. We endeavour to source local labour services and materials where possible.

PROFESSIONALISM

The Momentum Group ensures high standards of governance, transparency, and accountability, operating safely and always delivering an exceptional service. We are committed to achieving and maintaining B Corp and ISO 45001 and 14001.

The Momentum Foundation

From the very earliest days of Momentum, our founders’ priority was to establish a charitable foundation to give back to Liverpool and the North West. Managed by The Community Foundation for Lancashire and Merseyside, the Momentum Foundation supports community initiatives not only through grant funding but also through the provision of in-kind resources such as the expertise of our team.

Our journey to Net Zero

The Momentum Foundation Q&A

What is the Momentum Foundation?

The Momentum Foundation is a dedicated charitable trust and endowment fund pledging money and expertise to charities supporting Liverpool City Region communities. In partnership with the Community Foundations for Lancashire and Merseyside (CFLM), the Momentum Foundation aims to add more value to the Group’s fund raising by also providing knowledge, resources and time to those who need it most.

How does it work?

The Foundation is sustained by investing 25% of all corporate giving into an endowment, with the remaining funds ring-fenced to match-fund staff fundraising for local charities. The balance of corporate giving over the year will be distributed through grant-making to various charities. As the endowment pot grows, some of the income generated through interest will be used to donate to local charities. We’ve also established a staff committee working from a framework to guide the decision making which will be reviewed regularly to ensure that all the Foundation’s efforts align with the reality of the lives of people and communities in the Liverpool City Region.

The Foundation itself sits under a new Group activity – Momentum Contribute which ensures the business, its employees and partners deliver a significant positive impact in the region and beyond. The Foundation sits alongside other company initiatives, such as mental health training, programmes to tackle homelessness, financial wellbeing, carers and supporting women through the menopause. The Momentum Group is also working towards B Corp certification, a rigorous social and environmental standard that represents commitment to goals outside of company profit.

Why has it been established?

Through our personal and professional lives there has been a lot of philanthropy. We are a business, but the Momentum Group cannot just be about profit, we have to give something back to the areas and communities we work in. Many of us here, as former Grosvenor employees, have seen the work that the Westminster and Liverpool ONE Foundations do and want to replicate that in other areas of need. For example we know of the huge amount of poverty in parts of the city region and so we want our enduring purpose to support and create initiatives that have a positive impact on people’s lives and communities. We like to think that the Foundation puts us among a group of business that behave responsibly, thoughtfully and charitably. Medium to long term if there is anything we can do to eradicate or reduce or even marginally improve poverty in the area then that means that the workforce that we are employing in 10, 20, 30 years’ time will be in a better place than it is today. This is about helping to break cycles of family worklessness and if successful the effect that that has on one person, a family, a community can be immense.

What’s the benefit to The Momentum Group?

Everyone feels good about giving and, in turn, if we feel good then our own mental health and wellbeing improves. So, we hope that the Foundation will help our staff feel happy about their contributions which collectively will help the business thrive. However, we aim for the impact of the Foundation to be even deeper. For us this is also about staff development and personal confidence through being offered different opportunities, whether that’s through mentoring people in, or lending professional technical skills to, an organisation we are supporting. We believe that these opportunities can also help us attract new talent and retain that which we already have, which means that our ambition can grow as we do.

How has the Momentum Group contributed so far?

So far we’ve contributed a significant sum to the Foundation through our profits which has been split in two ways. Some of it has gone into the endowment pot that we are building, which is our legacy, and as that grows it in turn generates income from its interest. Some of that can go back into the endowment and some of it will be donated to grass roots charities. Additionally, we are encouraging staff to think about causes close to their hearts in the city region. We will match their personal giving or fund raising efforts £1 for £1 up to a maximum of £250.

What organisations have benefited from the Momentum Foundation?

The Momentum Foundation is about doing things differently, so requires different thinking and we have thought hard about who to donate to. To date, we have contributed to the #iwill campaign supporting youth social action; the Merseyside Women’s Fund; the LCR Cares Covid-19 Community Support Fund; and the Open Door Centre in Wirral. We are also one of the founding organisations behind the Change Liverpool homelessness initiative.

What’s the Foundation’s current focus?

The cost of living crisis is an immediate and urgent area of need with many charities and community organisations seeing income, donations and other help decreasing, while the demand for services is increasing. Financial help is one solution, but we can assist in other ways, so we are offering grants for city region organisations and charities which are supporting people and communities struggling in the current climate. The grants, of up to £3,000, will cover purchasing and installation of various ecological improvements to community buildings including double glazing, installation of energy-efficient appliances and lighting, improved insulation and alternative energy solutions, such as solar panels and ground sourcing heat pumps. Also in July 2023, 10 Momentum Group employees took part in the Liverpool-Chester-Liverpool bike ride, raising around £4,000 for the Foundation, which will help this initiative further.