October 2008

Business Stream, Scotland’s leading non-domestic water and waste water supplier, has announced a partnership with Reforesting Scotland (RS), which is to become its charity of the year.

As well as raising further awareness of the charity amongst its 100,000 Scottish customers, Business Stream will fundraise for RS at its own internal events and release employees to get them involved in a range of forestry-related projects.

RS, a registered charity established in 1991, is a networking organisation of individuals and groups that are active in the ecological and social regeneration of Scotland. The organisation aims to promote a sustainable forest culture and economy within Scotland, developing locally produced forest goods and services while encouraging social and ecological restoration of forests across the nation. Some of RS’s current initiatives include practical advice on low carbon living. They are also writing national guidelines for the sustainable harvesting of alternative forest products such as fungi.

Commenting on the new partnership, Business Stream chief executive Mark Powles said, ‘Reforesting Scotland shares some of the same core values as Business Stream: it is an organisation that has a great commitment to the environment and believes strongly in promoting the sustainable use of our precious resources. As a charity they focus on positive action.

‘We are therefore delighted to be working with them and are proud to make them our charity of the year. Preserving Scotland’s environment is critical to the long term success of the nation and we are committed to helping RS with some of its key initiatives. We take our social responsibilities seriously and are continually developing ways that we can make a difference to our community, environment and employees.’

Dan Gates, a director of Reforesting Scotland said, ‘We are extremely happy to have the support of Business Stream. As a company that reaches out to businesses across Scotland, we believe they can be a much-valued ally in promoting the importance of natural forests for the people of Scotland and the benefit of wood products in helping to avoid climate change. We look forward to working together.’