We have a responsibility to minimise our environmental impact and make a positive contribution to our local communities. We achieve this through the buildings we create, our construction processes, and the people we employ.
In 2023, LST Projects became a certified Carbon Neutral Business.
To achieve the certification, we partnered with Carbon Neutral Britain to measure our carbon emissions and offset them through internationally certified projects. As well as offsetting, and maintaining our carbon neutral status, our aim is to measure and reduce our emissions every year to make sure we continuously improve.
Our Carbon Reduction Plan can be read here.
Committed to sustainable construction, we source timber from sustainably managed forests as part of the widely-shared goal of Zero Net Deforestation.
We make a positive impact on local communities in a variety of ways.
Guiding the next generation of construction workers
LST team members regularly attend local schools to discuss careers in construction. This includes organising student workshops providing a chance for young people to network and ask questions.
Helping in the community
We volunteer our time to support a variety of local projects. One example saw us help clear a campsite for the Crawley District Beaver Scouts. Our team removed overhanging branches from the wooded trail and dug holes to help with the planting of a new orchard.
Another recent project involved us redecorating a kitchen free of charge for the Sue Ryder charity.
Supporting local charities
We support several local charities through donations and volunteering. As well as organising fundraising events, we donate £50 to charity every time a customer completes a project feedback form. This money is donated to the charity of our customer’s choice.
International support for sustainable development
LST is a supporter of Cameroon Catalyst, which is co-founded by our Sales and Estimating Director Patrick Mballa. The charity is building new facilities in remote African villages to make communities more resilient and encourage sustainable development.
Patrick visits Cameroon every year with volunteers from Southampton University, Birmingham University and Imperial College London. The volunteers work alongside medical practitioners to exchange knowledge and gain experience overseas.
The latest trip saw 12 volunteers across three teams travel from the UK to Cameroon.
Students from the school of medicine at the University of Southampton explored work experience opportunities in Cameroon, working alongside local medical practitioners to exchange knowledge and gain experience overseas.
Future plans include building a mobile clinic which can be put in a container and transported by lorry, bringing the hospital to villagers who desperately need it. UK doctors will also be invited to visit the country to carry out consultations and treatments.
A team from Imperial College London implemented a rainwater harvesting system for domestic and public buildings such as schools and hospitals, which will collect water from a guttering system into a storage tank.
A hand dug well was retrofitted with ferrocement, a water tank and a solar water pump, connected to four taps using a gravity system. This will enable more people to access potable water. The water quality for the existing seven wells was also tested to ensure it meets the villagers’ needs.
Two villages were identified as suitable for bore wells next year. These will be linked to a solar pump system and a water tower built at the villages’ highest point to distribute water using a gravity system.
The University of Birmingham team developed prototypes for drainage systems and latrines for domestic and public buildings to consolidate sanitation schemes.
Protecting mental wellbeing
As a responsible employer, we encourage an open-door policy on our sites and all employees are trained in mental health awareness. We also provide an employee assistance programme and telephone counselling services if needed.
As part of our mental health awareness policy, we organise an annual sunflower growing competition throughout the company. This encourages our employees to enjoy the outdoors and give something back to mother nature.