The International CSR Excellence Awards are presented to companies that have a heart: caring companies that use their privileged position to help their customers, colleagues, communities, and the environment.

Kingdom’s mission is to provide more than a home and in doing so develop strong, sustainable communities. Delivering community benefits and sustainability are core objectives that contribute to Kingdom’s Corporate Social Responsibility. Working closely with local communities, Kingdom focuses on employment and skills development, environmental projects, resident and community projects, education and schools initiatives, and the provision of public art.

Calum Kippen, Kingdom’s head of governance and organisational support, who collected the awards on behalf of Kingdom at the Awards ceremony held in London, said: “Like many other organisations, we have experienced an unprecedented few years due to the Covid-19 pandemic but this has only increased our dedication to our Corporate Social Responsibility.

“We developed innovative ways to support and assist our communities including supporting over 500 families with financial grants from our Coronavirus Assistance Fund totalling £111,105, preventing digital exclusion among the most vulnerable members of society with the Connecting Scotland Fund allowing us to provide iPads, Chromebooks and internet connections, delivering community benefits through investment programmes, services and projects, and contributing to organisational climate change objectives. Winning the Gold Award means the world to the dedicated teams at Kingdom who work incredibly hard to support our communities.”

Kingdom Housing Association has chosen to take its success to the next level by becoming CSR World Leaders, having its winning papers published in the CSR World Leaders annual publication, allowing others to learn from their experience and follow their lead.

Bill Banks, Kingdom Group chief executive, said: “It’s fantastic to win this international award. The Corporate Social Responsibility Award recognises a full range of added value initiatives we have implemented to deliver tenancy sustainment services and community benefits which are directly aligned with our mission to provide more than a home.”

He added: “We have a long track record of working collaboratively with others and our Community Benefits programme would not have been possible without the input from staff across Kingdom and the support from many partners who we work with on a regular basis, therefore I’d like to thank all the organisations and individuals who have been involved.”