Our 2024 Corporate Social Responsibility Review

People and planet are at the heart of everything we do here at Keith Prowse. We’re not perfect, but we are incredibly conscious that our events and experiences have the ability to transcend the creation of lifelong memories - and that’s by leaving a positive, lasting impact on everything they touch. This is why we keep our Corporate Social Responsibilities top-of-mind as we address the daily, monthly and the annual ‘who, where, what, why and hows.’

Let’s take a look at our people and planet efforts in 2024 as we turn our attention to greater improvement in 2025!

 

People

Our charitable initiatives

Keith Prowse and The Experience Golf are extremely proud to have worked with St Nicholas Fund for the second year in a row, to fundraise and improve the lives of those at The Baobab. The Baobab is a kindergarten school located in Nairobi, Kenya and nourishes 90 children, aged between 3-6, through food and education, all of whom come from the poorest of backgrounds.

In October, Keith Prowse completed the Great Thames Path challenge, whilst The Experience Golf team completed their very own Home of Golf challenge, involving walking and cycling through the golf courses in St Andrews, Scotland. In doing so, we raised enough money to create and fund the running of The Baobab Football Team (aka Keith’s Kickers) and The Baobab Feeding Programme (Keith’s Kitchen). These are two values that are remarkably close to all of us, and two things that every child should have access to. It is an incredible privilege to know that we’re improving the quality of life of these deprived children, and we can’t wait to continue our efforts into 2025 and beyond.

“The Wimbledon Foundation is extremely grateful to Keith Prowse for the significant contribution they make each year towards our work supporting people's mental and physical health and wellbeing. By donating £5 for every ticket sold to The Championships, Keith Prowse are helping charities in Merton and Wandsworth to provide vital services and help people overcome complex issues in their lives. Our thanks also to the amazing Keith Prowse team who spent a day volunteering with Thrive who use gardening to help bring about positive change in the lives of people living with disabilities or ill health. We look forward to continuing to work together in 2025 to support those in need in our local community."

- Amanda Horton-Mastin, Head of the Wimbledon Foundation

 

Our talent

We’re committed to fostering a culture of diversity, equality, and inclusion - where everyone feels valued, respected, and empowered to thrive. We are proud that 45% of our hires in the last 12 months have been female - 50% of our Senior Leadership Team are women, reflecting our dedication to improving gender diversity across all levels of our business.
However, we know there is always room to learn and grow. We’re committed to continually evaluating and evolving our practices to create a truly inclusive workplace. Looking forward into 2025, we’re excited about future developments and improvement as we strive to build an environment that embraces individuality, cultivates a sense of belonging, and reflects the diverse audiences we serve. Together, we aim to inspire collaboration and innovation at every level.

“The profits generated from England Rugby Hospitality at Allianz Stadium play a crucial role in sustaining and developing rugby at all levels. Revenues from premium experiences at the stadium is reinvested, by the RFU, into initiatives that nurture the sport at its foundation. This includes funding for junior rugby programs, improving local club facilities, developing the next generation of players, building artificial grass pitches and ultimately supporting the England teams at all levels. By channelling these profits back into the rugby ecosystem, with the support of Keith Prowse, helps ensure the sport’s growth and accessibility, fostering a strong pipeline of talent and keeping the rugby spirit alive.”

- Nils Braude, Managing Director at Twickenham Experience Limited

 

Accessibility initiatives

We work hard to make every part of your experience with us memorable. Part of that commitment is ensuring all of our events, venues and hospitality facilities are accessible to everyone. Members of our Operations Team have been reviewing each venue over the last year, to assess and adapt the customer journey to accommodate any accessibility requirements guests might have. Guests are encouraged to speak with us about any concerns or requirements, and we work with our venues to ensure these can be accommodated throughout the process. With several redesigns scheduled for many of our facilities at multiple events in 2025, we’re ensuring accessibility is at the forefront to reflect the accommodations needed for our guests.
We are also members of the Sunflower Hidden Disability scheme, and we recently rolled out training to all staff so they know what to look for and how to help someone who may have a hidden disability. This is just another step we’re taking to ensure everyone at Keith Prowse is aware - and supportive - of making our events accessible to all.

 

“The impact of raising funds in Edgbaston's hospitality suites is really important as it allows us to deliver projects and activities that can make a real difference but are hard to fund from other sources. For example, we were approached by a tiny charity in Solihull supporting young people who struggling with their mental health. We were able to deliver some sessions using cricket to help these kids open up about their feelings and improve their coping mechanisms; these projects are absolutely what we want to do as a charity but we rely on fundraising to do this. Thank you to everyone who makes a contribution - it makes a genuine difference to people in Warwickshire.”
- Fidelis Navas, Community Director at Warwickshire Cricket Foundation

Planet

 

Sustainability initiatives

A strong example of our sustainability work was in The Lawn at Wimbledon 2024 - where we made the bold decision to switch from white diesel to hydrogenated vegetable oil, derived from sustainable sources. The results were impressive; by switching to HVO, The Lawn was able to reduce its carbon emissions by 85% vs using diesel – a significant environmental saving for just one temporary structure. To put this into perspective, white diesel emits 2.512kg of CO2 per litre of fuel – whereas HVO emits just 0.252 kg of CO2 per litre!

Across our portfolio, we made continuous improvements wherever possible alongside our rightsholders and venues in partnership with Levy UK+I – for example, at Allianz Stadium, 95% of our food is now prepared and cooked onsite using at least 80% British ingredients with all cooking oil recycled.

Earth Week

At our head office in Twickenham, ‘Earth Week’ in April was a key time in the calendar that perfectly tied together both people and planet. We collaborated company-wide to implement small changes each day, that collectively made a difference both then and into the future as our perspectives shifted and behaviours changed to this day. We found that we can indeed work without all the lights on in the office, and that car sharing wherever possible is actually...enjoyable! Central to Earth Week this year was ‘Stop Food Waste Day’ – where we delved, literally, into the bottoms of our fridge freezers to make a meal using what we had, vs going to the supermarket; it’s amazing what you can create when you put your mind to it - especially with the gift of recipe inspiration from some of our cheffing friends at Levy!

All of this work supports Levy’s goal of net zero emissions by 2027.

Looking Ahead

2024 was an important year within the 220+ year history of Keith Prowse – with our CSR efforts at the core of what we do, as you can see! We thank all of our incredible people, partners and rightsholders for their efforts, and of course our amazing guests for supporting these initiatives. We cannot wait for what 2025 has in-store!