Q5’s pro-bono programme wins Lord Mayor’s Dragon Award
Westminster headquartered consultancy Q5 has been announced as one of the winners at the 2021 Lord Mayor’s Dragon Awards, thanks to its work as part of the Pop Up Consulting initiative.
The Lord Mayor is the head of the City of London Corporation, which provides local government services for the financial and commercial heart of Britain’s capital. Each year, the Lord Mayor oversees the annual Dragon Awards scheme, celebrating the social impact of commercial enterprises.
Speaking ahead of the 2021 event, Lord Mayor William Russell said, “This extraordinary year has presented enormous challenges for individuals and organisations across London and the UK, and has highlighted more than ever the important role businesses can play in working for the benefit of their communities. I was really impressed with the innovative, creative and impactful ways companies, which have themselves faced difficult times during the pandemic, have given their time and effort to help make a positive impact on people’s lives.”
This year, applicants for the awards had supported over 188,000 people, provided almost £3 million in support and mobilised volunteers who contributed over 13,000 hours to community groups and other worthy causes. The applications were eventually whittled down to a shortlist of 14 firms, including UK consultancy Q5, which was commended for its pro bono consulting initiative.
Launched in collaboration with Leeds based charity Ahead Partnership, Pop Up Consulting went on to offer pro-bono support to over 65 small businesses and charities. At the end of April, a virtual ceremony from Mansion House, in the City of London, the firm’s involvement in this scheme saw Q5 named the winner of the Boosting Social Impact Award at the Dragon Awards.
According to Q5 Pop Up Consulting Lead Rowenna Reid, the initiative enabled Q5 to work with a lot of small businesses and charities during the pandemic. The work supplied by Pop Up Consulting helped them cope with the disruption of Covid-19, and to address some of the longer-term strategic and operational challenges they’ve faced, such as the transition to virtual working.
Speaking on the triumph, Reid noted, “Our team has really enjoyed being able to get involved in such meaningful work and to make such a positive contribution during the pandemic. It’s also been a great development opportunity, giving our people experience with new organisations and challenges.”
“It’s helped us as a company to challenge some of our traditional approaches to consulting and develop new ways of doing things, to benefit from new perspectives we wouldn’t otherwise have experienced and to get really valuable insights into the challenges charities and small businesses face.”
Other winners
Fiver other firms were handed awards at the event. TrueCue was handed the Inclusive Employment Award, while the Innovation During Covid-19 Award went to Be On Hand – an 'Uber for volunteers' which worked with Lambeth Council, Age UK and the British Red Cross to mobilise volunteers to shop for vulnerable people – and the Community Partners Award was given to Skills Builder for its work with UBS, helping schools build life skills in young people.
The Heart of the City Award was handed to WeAgile, whose online tutoring platform delivered maths lessons to hundreds of children during lockdown. Finally, another professional services firm Marsh McLennan was lauded in the Regional Impact Award, celebrating its Surviving To Thriving project, in conjunction with the British Red Cross, supporting young refugees and asylum seekers in Birmingham and Leeds.
