Supporting Materials for the Central South Business Awards

Community Hero

April 2024

Testimonials:

800^th Mayor of Southampton – Councillor Jacqui Rayment:

“Silverlake’s Udonateacar.com is a great initiative that supports Charities whose representatives I was delighted to meet when I was the Sheriff of Southampton. It is fantastic when local business come together for the benefit of others and this idea led by Silverlake not only raises money and plays its part in the green agenda, ensuring people scrap their vehicles in a responsible way. Recycling your car through Udonatercar.com means that the National Charity Make Some Noise can continue to support Food Banks, Mental Health and DV projects to name a few. I am delighted to support this initiative and wish it every success as it goes from strength to strength.”

Councillor Jacqui Rayment and Allen Prebble MD Silverlake Automotive Recycling celebrating the company’s 75th Anniversary year

Darren Edwards, Project Development Champion at Andy’s Man Club:

“The grant we received from Global’s Make Some Noise, supported by Silverlake’s UDonateacar.com fund raising, helps us to keep our doors open and provide a safe space for men to come and talk and we are incredibly grateful. It was great for our Eastleigh and Southampton teams to have a day out as guests of Silverlake and very much appreciated – the site tour was a real eye opener into automotive recycling. I also welcomed the opportunity to run three presentations for Silverlake’s staff to ensure everyone heard our message that ‘It’s okay to talk’.”

Andy’s Man Club visit Silverlake Automotive Recycling Dec 2023

Nicci King, CEO – Yellow Door:

“We are a Southampton based charity which prevent and respond to domestic abuse. We are really grateful for the support we have received from Silverlake and their UDonateacar.com scheme which has helped to raise much needed funds.”

Sally Randall, Founder – Abbey’s Heroes:

“We are a Southampton based charity that looks after children and their families when they have been diagnosed with cancer and are being treated at University Hospital, Southampton. We are so proud to be associated with Silverlake and their UDonateacar.com car recycling scheme. It’s a fantastic way of raising money and supporting community charities.”

Charity representatives from Global’s Make Some Noise, Yellow Door and Abbey’s Heroes

Fay Toulis, Project Support Executive – Global’s Make Some Noise:

“Global’s Make Some Noise are improving lives by funding small, local projects across the UK, ensuring no one is left facing lives toughest challenges alone. We fund crucial grassroots services, including food banks, mental health and domestic violence helplines, LGBTQ+ support, community projects and employment programmes. We provide training to small charity staff to create long-term impact.

We are delighted to have the support of Silverlake and their UDonateacar.com scheme. Thanks to Silverlake’s support, in 2023 we received a generous sum of £12,000 for small charities. Here’s how this funding can help:

£6,000 could buy beds for 60 vulnerable people whose lives are affected by furniture poverty.
£6,000 could buy 120 hours of music therapy for children with life limiting illnesses staying on paediatric wards.
£6,000 could buy a hot meal for 4,800 people experiencing or moving out of homelessness.

Thanks to the support of generous corporate partners like Silverlake, we have continued to support small charities at a time of increased pressure to community services. In the last year alone, we have:

Awarded £2.5 million in grants.
Supported 41 small community projects.
Reached over 13,000 people.
Funded 28 specialist projects.

With your continued support we can continue to help people like Matt. Matt is supported by Paul’s Place, who help to enhance the life of adults with physical disabilities from across the South West. Matt is the perfect example of how the support and trust in our staff can make a difference. On a recent holiday to Somerset, we had a pool-party. This relaxed and fun setting encouraged Matt to join in. He has a fear of water that started in childhood after a bad experience. For 20 years he was afraid to get into a swimming pool. Thanks to encouragement from staff and the care provided getting him comfortable in water, he has in his own words “broken a fear.”

Alex Pike, Commercial Manager – Eastleigh Football Club:

Tom Harvey to source quote

L-R Alex Pike, Commerical Manager, Eastleigh FC and Allen Prebble, MD, Silverlake Automotive Recycling

MOTOFEST’24

Shane Charles, Motor Vehicle Lecturer – Eastleigh College:

“Silverlake has been a supporter of Eastleigh College for over ten years. Every year they supply us with a range of end-of-life vehicles for students to train with. We also receive engines, gearboxes and differentials for dismantling, as well as resources to help with the transition to electric and hybrid vehicles. The greatest support that Silverlake give to the students of Eastleigh College is their ongoing commitment to good and meaningful work experience, giving our students a hands-on insight to the automotive recycling industry.”

Sam Withers, Automotive and Motorsport Lecturer – CEMAST College:

“Silverlake has visited twice this academic year and twice last year to spend time educating our learners. Nearly all Automotive learners have attended an hour’s session delivered by the Silverlake team which I can best describe as a careers session that also focuses on educating the learners about the Automotive recycling industry as a whole, as well as the Silverlake ‘way’. These talks are beneficial to all learners prior to going into the working world wherever that may be but are also key to debunking the perception that many people have about vehicle recycling businesses. The collaborative relationship that we have with Silverlake is one that we consider to be extremely important both currently and going forward.”

Silverlake providing talks at Eastleigh and Cemast Colleges

Theresa Pratt, CEO – Blue Lamp Trust:

“We are very grateful for the generous support that Silverlake continues to give us. This and other fundraising have seen us able to develop the Bobby Scheme even further and introduce Cyber Bobby; offering offer free cyber security advice to the elderly and vulnerable in the community. The pandemic was a catalyst for many aspects of every-day life moving online and the threat of cyber-crime is increasingly prevalent. With their valuable sponsorship, Silverlake is making a real and direct contribution to making Hampshire and the Isle of Wight a safer place.”

Theresa Pratt, CEO Blue Lamp Trust with Allen Prebble, managing director, Silverlake

Stuart Mangan, Watch Manager at Botley Fire Station – Hampshire & IOW Fire & Rescue Services:

“I would like to thank all the team at Silverlake for allowing us the opportunity to utilise their salvage vehicles and venue for what is a critical and valuable opportunity for us to train and hone our skills regarding road traffic collisions. We hope we never have to use these skills for real, but we know too well that we do get called upon. These skills, rigorously practiced in a safe environment, get put to good use with the ultimate aim of protecting and preserving life.”

Multiple Fire Station RTA Exercise – Hampshire Fire – October 2023

Botley Station RTA Exercise – Feb 2023

David Armitage, Manager, Gosport Borough Youth Football:

“Gosport Borough Youth Football Club aims to cater for all children and has grown significantly in the post-COVID era. It now has some 75+ teams including both PAN disability, and girls’ teams. On top of this, it also runs a development program from early years, right through to under 12’s, and is where most of the teams are actually created from.

Having had to deal with the traumas of the pandemic, sport has become a vitally important element in the re-development of social skills for all children and watching them gain exercise, make new friends, develop relationships, and ultimately have fun, is something truly wonderful to see.

Naturally, this all comes at a cost but as a club, Gosport Borough Youth Football Club has tried to continue to make football accessible to all by holding its fees despite the rising costs it continues to incur with a significant amount of the revenue being spent on providing winter training facilities for all teams to ensure continuity is maintained throughout the year and keep the children active.

Sponsorship enables the club to continue to keep fees as low as possible and maintain its ability to keep football open to as many people within the community as possible. It provides them a sense of belonging in a safe environment, to feel part of something, and for some to imagine that they are following in the footsteps of their favourite players.

I can only speak for the team that I, myself, manage and to see the children taking pride in their shirt, looking smart, with smiles on faces, is something that makes me continue to do what I do for the children to which I am responsible.

Sponsorship is not just an advert or a token gesture, it truly means something to both the children, and the coaches. Sponsoring a team kit maintains access to all children, ensures everyone looks the same irrespective of financial circumstance, helps to provide a strong bond amongst the children, and ultimately helps provide a basis for structure, continuity of the club, and puts smiles on the faces of one’s so young.

We, as a team, are very grateful to Silverlake for the acquisition of the team’s training kit last year, they wear it with pride, and even during the colder month’s would wear it over their hoodies, and jackets. When you look around and see other teams wearing a mismatch of all sorts of colours, our team walk around like they belong something, proud to be a team, and glad to be with each other. This has been aided by Silverlake, and we are extremely grateful for your support, it really does mean a lot not just to the team but also, the club, and wider community.”

Martin Vine, Roads Policing Trainer, Hampshire & IOW Constabulary:

“The Hampshire Roads Policing Training Unit are responsible for the development and delivery of all mandatory and advanced level training concerning both legislative & skill-based elements. Within this remit, the unit provides an initial ‘Core Skills’ course for all ‘new to role’ officers who also have to attend a number of other mandatory courses in line with the College of Policing guidelines.

The Level I Prohibition (PG9) is the mandatory course providing powers granted as an authorised Vehicle Examiner, along with the ability to prohibit any motor vehicle presenting an immediate danger to the vehicle occupants or other road users.

The course is delivered by qualified and experienced Roads Policing Trainers who have both completed 30 years’ service in the force, with a combined time of over 40 years on the Roads Policing unit as advanced car drivers and motorcyclists.

The Hampshire & Isle of Wight Constabulary have little resources for the provision of certain technical aspects of training, and both Martin & Rob (Roads Policing Trainers) considered the cost implications of running a Prohibition (PG9) course via an external training body. This presented a number of issues in relation to course content, training location and the impact on frontline policing with significant abstraction from shifts.

The College of Policing provide a guide as to the technical components required and an initial consultation was undertaken with the DVSA as ‘experts’ in this field of work.

The initial conclusions made provided 2 options

A theory based course relying on a didactic delivery with classroom based tasking based on provided images/scenarios. An assessment would be a ‘formative’ method based on classroom learning.
Sourcing a suitable ‘partnership’ with a professional body who can assist with the provision of vehicles and components enabling students to benefit from both theory and practical teaching. An assessment could be both ‘summative’ and ‘formative’ with a combination of both classroom and practical elements.

Following further discussion with a Hampshire & Isle of Wight Vehicle Examiner, it was suggested that contact with Silverlake Automotive Recycling may provide opportunity to develop the course with a technical/practical element.

Silverlake Automotive Recycling are a local established business with investment in the local community and their own workforce.Initial contact was made with Mr Tom Harvey (Organisation Development Manager) and a meeting held at Silverlake.

It was easy to have a pre-conceived idea as to how the business operated – a scrap yard whereby RP Training may be able to utilise vehicle components for training purposes. It is fair to say that this could not be further away from the truth, and both Martin & Rob (Roads Policing Trainers) were surprised to find a highly organised and extremely professional automotive recycling plant that covers all elements including Electric Vehicles. High regard is placed on Health & Safety ensuring both workers and members of the public can operate on the premises without compromise.

The initial meeting provided a sound basis whereby Silverlake could not only provide on-site facilities to enable Roads Policing to run the course from the location, but also provide vehicles according to RP Training requirements. Tom Harvey represented Silverlake in a very professional, friendly and informative manner, and, most importantly, a keen understanding of what may be required.

As a result, RP Training have developed a 3 Day course which will be entirely run on the Silverlake premises. The appropriate risk assessments and fire risk documents were provided along with any information required. Vehicles have been provided for the course assessments along with technical staff providing specific adjustments. Suitable space has been allowed for the practical elements with key consideration towards Health & Safety in a working business environment.

Silverlake Automotive Recycling has enabled RP Training to provide future delivery of this mandatory course for all Hampshire and Thames Valley Roads Policing officers with significant savings being made. Officers will benefit from working in the environment as well as having a better understanding of the automotive recycling business. The process will be carefully evaluated to ensure future training opportunities are further developed and Silverlake recognised for their valued time and resources.

Roads Policing Training are extremely grateful for the assistance provided.