Press Release

CSR-ACCREDITATION ORGANISATION PARTNERS WITH THE BASSIOUNI GROUP - GLOBAL CONSULTING FIRM SPECIALISING IN SUSTAINABILITY AND INNOVATION London: Thursday, 10 March 2022 – Richard Collins, the CEO of CSR-Accreditation, today announced that it is partnering with The Bassiouni Group (TBG/TBG Purpose), a global consulting firm based in New York, USA. The firm, founded by David Solomon Bassiouni, specialises in sustainability, innovation and global impact. TBG Purpose, a division of The Bassiouni Group, is a leading CSR/Sustainability partner for corporations, institutions and governments. With a core team that encompasses five continents, TBG Purpose provides an integrated set of solutions that enable organizations to meet their Sustainability and ESG objectives in line with the SDGs. As President of The Bassiouni Group, David Solomon Bassiouni built a network of 1000 experts in 150+ countries that work with INGOs, aid/relief agencies, DFIs, governments and companies across multiple sectors. Richard Collins said ‘We are delighted to begin working with The Bassiouni Group/TBG Purpose, which shares our values and is committed to bringing about social responsibility and sustainability solutions across the board. The partnership gives CSR-Accreditation access to the US market and enables us to further grow our training and accreditation programs around the world.’ ‘We are excited to be entering into this strategic partnership with CSR-A’ said David Solomon Bassiouni, President of The Bassiouni Group/TBG Purpose. ‘As a company, we strongly value collaboration with proven partners that align with our values and mission. Through this powerful new partnership with CSR-A, we will enable North American and Transatlantic companies of all sizes to access integrated CSR solutions and unlock the true value of Sustainability in a methodical, quantifiable and credible way. We look forward to close collaboration between the CSR-A and TBG Purpose teams.’ CSR-A was founded in 2018 following the success of the International CSR Excellence Awards. CRS-A offers all businesses and charitable/not-for-profit organisations, regardless of size and sector, the opportunity to obtain official Corporate Social Responsibility accreditation within 10 weeks. In addition to the accreditation process, CSR-A offers training courses, webinars and Impact Reports and provides a holistic framework that addresses ESG Compliance, SDG alignment and social value enabling a sustainable, profitable business. Accreditation is valid for three years and is priced on a per head basis, ranging from £690 for 3 years for a sole trader (or £290 annually) right up to £15000 for 3 years for a large corporation with over 1000 employees. An independent panel of assessors judges all accreditation applications and applicants are awarded bronze, silver or gold. CSR-A is based upon the four key pillars of corporate social responsibility – environment, workplace, community and philanthropy. This unique approach gives organisations a means to engage, benchmark, measure, report and publicize CSR initiatives. The mission of CSR-A is to provide a means to facilitate cultural change. The organisation has offices in the UK, Middle East, Asia and the United States. www.csr-accreditation.co.uk For further information or images please contact: Alexandra Foley alex@alexfoleyassociates.com +44 7976 73478

CSR-ACCREDITATION EXPORTS CSR TO MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA WITH LAUNCH OF CSR ARABIA AND A WEBSITE AND PORTAL IN ARABIC London: December 20, 2021 – Richard Collins, CEO of CSR-Accreditation, today announced the launch of CSR Arabia and the CSR Accreditation website in Arabic – https://csr-accreditationarabia.com which will offer an Arabic facing portal for all Arabic speaking countries. CSR-Accreditation offers training and accreditation to businesses in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). For the first time, businesses in the MENA region will be able to access CSR-Accreditation’s unique holistic approach to social responsibility. Dr. Hana Albanna is CSR-A’s Consultant Partner and has herself undergone CSR-A’s training courses and provides CSR-A training to business in the MENA region. Dr. Hana has translated all CSR-A’s educational materials and developed the CSR Arabia website. Examples of CSR members in the MENA region are Abu Dhabi Ports and Abu Dhabi Terminals. Dr. Hana is the International Initiatives Manager of Global One’s London office, a women’s rights charity and an adjunct lecturer at the Hamad bin Khalifa University. Speaking from her London office, Dr. Hana Albanna said “Through this partnership we want to make CSR-Accreditation and its training courses easily accessible to all Arabic speaking countries to drive change for good.” CSR-Accreditation has an office in Bahrain in partnership with the International Union of Social Responsibility, which covers the Gulf States and is headed-up by Dr. Ali al Abrahim. Its sister organisation is the Regional Network of Corporate Social Responsibility (RNCSR). The network seeks for social responsibility to achieve its goals by providing training programs such as CSR-A’s training Richard Collins, CEO of CSR-Accreditation said “We are delighted to launch our Arabic offering thanks to the hard work and dedication of Dr. Hana Albanna. This is a significant step up for us and a huge opportunity to promote social responsibility to businesses and organisations throughout the Middle East and North Africa.” CSR-A is currently developing further partnership with organisations in Egypt, Lebanon and the UAE. CSR-A was founded in 2018 following the success of the International CSR Excellence Awards. The globally-focused organisation offers all businesses and charitable/not-for-profit organisations, regardless of size and sector, the opportunity to obtain official Corporate Social Responsibility accreditation within 10 weeks. In addition, CSR-A offers training courses, webinars and Impact Reports. Accreditation is valid for three years and is priced on a per head basis, from sole traders to multinational corporations. CSR-A has developed a relevant and holistic framework that delivers an up-to-date standard for social responsibility and addresses ESG Compliance, SDG alignment and social value enabling a sustainable, profitable business. This standard is based upon the four key pillars of environment, workplace, community and philanthropy. This unique approach encourages social responsibility in every organisation and offers a means to engage, benchmark, measure, report and publicize CSR initiatives. CSR-A has redefined the ‘C’ in CSR to be inclusive, to include companies, consumers, communities, charities and citizen/collective collaboration. The mission of CSR-A is to provide a means to facilitate cultural change. The organisation has offices in the UK, Middle East and Asia. www.csr-accreditation.co.uk For further information or images please contact: Alexandra Foley alex@alexfoleyassociates.com +44 7976 73478 Notes to editors : Dr. Hana Albanna is a Senior Social Researcher at Faith Regen Foundation, the International Initiatives Manager at Global One and an Adjunct lecturer at Hamad Bin Khalifa University. Hana holds a PhD in Marketing, Social Media and Public Relations from Cardiff Metropolitan University, a Public Relations professional diploma from the Chartered Institute of Public Relations and a Master degree in Marketing. Hana is part of a United Nations funded program called “the Alliance of NGOs and CSOs for South South Cooperation”. Hana worked closely with international development and non-profit organisations and has more than 15 years of experience in the field of international development. Hana delivered many training programmes worldwide covering strategic management, corporate communications, corporate social responsibilities and the sustainable development goals.

CSR-ACCREDITATION EXPORTS CSR TO MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA WITH LAUNCH OF CSR ARABIA AND A WEBSITE AND PORTAL IN ARABIC

London: December 20, 2021 – Richard Collins, CEO of CSR-Accreditation, today announced the launch of CSR Arabia and the CSR Accreditation website in Arabic – https://csr-accreditationarabia.com which will offer an Arabic facing portal for all Arabic speaking countries. CSR-Accreditation offers training and accreditation to businesses in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). For the first time, businesses in the MENA region will be able to access CSR-Accreditation’s unique holistic approach to social responsibility.

Dr. Hana Albanna is CSR-A’s Consultant Partner and has herself undergone CSR-A’s training courses and provides CSR-A training to business in the MENA region. Dr. Hana has translated all CSR-A’s educational materials and developed the CSR Arabia website. Examples of CSR members in the MENA region are Abu Dhabi Ports and Abu Dhabi Terminals.

Dr. Hana is the International Initiatives Manager of Global One’s London office, a women’s rights charity and an adjunct lecturer at the Hamad bin Khalifa University. Speaking from her London office, Dr. Hana Albanna said “Through this partnership we want to make CSR-Accreditation and its training courses easily accessible to all Arabic speaking countries to drive change for good.”

CSR-Accreditation has an office in Bahrain in partnership with the International Union of Social Responsibility, which covers the Gulf States and is headed-up by Dr. Ali al Abrahim. Its sister organisation is the Regional Network of Corporate Social Responsibility (RNCSR). The network seeks for social responsibility to achieve its goals by providing training programs such as CSR-A’s training.

Richard Collins, CEO of CSR-Accreditation said “We are delighted to launch our Arabic offering thanks to the hard work and dedication of Dr. Hana Albanna. This is a significant step up for us and a huge opportunity to promote social responsibility to businesses and organisations throughout the Middle East and North Africa.”

CSR-A is currently developing further partnership with organisations in Egypt, Lebanon and the UAE. CSR-A was founded in 2018 following the success of the International CSR Excellence Awards. The globally-focused organisation offers all businesses and charitable/not-for-profit organisations, regardless of size and sector, the opportunity to obtain official Corporate Social Responsibility accreditation within 10 weeks. In addition, CSR-A offers training courses, webinars and Impact Reports. Accreditation is valid for three years and is priced on a per head basis, from sole traders to multinational corporations.

CSR-A has developed a relevant and holistic framework that delivers an up-to-date standard for social responsibility and addresses ESG Compliance, SDG alignment and social value enabling a sustainable, profitable business. This standard is based upon the four key pillars of environment, workplace, community and philanthropy. This unique approach encourages social responsibility in every organisation and offers a means to engage, benchmark, measure, report and publicize CSR initiatives.

CSR-A has redefined the ‘C’ in CSR to be inclusive, to include companies, consumers, communities, charities and citizen/collective collaboration.

The mission of CSR-A is to provide a means to facilitate cultural change. The organisation has offices in the UK, Middle East, Asia and the United States.

www.csr-accreditation.co.uk

For further information or images please contact: Alexandra Foley alex@alexfoleyassociates.com +44 7976 73478 Notes to editors : Dr. Hana Albanna is a Senior Social Researcher at Faith Regen Foundation, the International Initiatives Manager at Global One and an Adjunct lecturer at Hamad Bin Khalifa University. Hana holds a PhD in Marketing, Social Media and Public Relations from Cardiff Metropolitan University, a Public Relations professional diploma from the Chartered Institute of Public Relations and a Master degree in Marketing. Hana is part of a United Nations funded program called “the Alliance of NGOs and CSOs for South South Cooperation”. Hana worked closely with international development and non-profit organisations and has more than 15 years of experience in the field of international development. Hana delivered many training programmes worldwide covering strategic management, corporate communications, corporate social responsibilities and the sustainable development goals.

CSR-ACCREDITATION PARTNERS WITH GGI GLOBAL ALLIANCE OF INDEPENDENT PROFESSIONAL LAW, TAX AND ACCOUNTING FIRMS London, December xx, 2021 – Richard Collins, CEO of CSR-Accreditation, today announced a partnership arrangement with Swiss-based GGI Global Alliance AG www.ggi.com , a worldwide association of independent professional firms. The GGI network comprises over 860 offices of leading auditing, tax, legal and advisory firms around the globe and was founded in 1995 by serial entrepreneur and economist Claudio G. Cocca. Today, GGI counts for a combined fee income of over 6 billion USD per annum. The global CEO of GGI is Michael Reiss von Filski who is a lawyer by training and also sits on the boards of numerous international companies, including a Swiss-based family office and a leading M&A and consulting firm. Richard Collins said “We are delighted to partner with GGI and to work with Michael Reiss von Filski who thinks the way we do and recognises the importance of social responsibility. It is becoming increasingly clear that the most successful businesses of the future will be those that adopt a socially responsible approach to their communities and stakeholders.” Michael Reiss von Filski, Chairman of GGI Global Alliance AG, said “We have longed hoped to meet someone who can offer a sensible and systematic approach to social responsibility and CSR-A is that organisation. Richard Collins is a fellow creative and we both agree that businesses across all sectors will eventually need to sign up to a CSR charter. CSR-A’s unique holistic approach is both accessible and inspirational. Lawyers, accountants and consultants play an important role in the business world and can set an enduring example.” Michael Reiss von Filski has joined CSR-Accreditation’s independent assessment panel which reviews applications for accreditation and awards Bronze, Silver and Gold Accreditation. CSR-A believes the professional services sector will benefit significantly from demonstrating a return on social investment in terms of staff engagement, retention, recruitment, tendering, supply chain management and brand visibility. As well as measuring the social return on investment in terms of sustainability and social impact, the future shape of business will be measured in both social as well as financial value. CSR-A was founded in 2018 following the success of the International CSR Excellence Awards. The globally-focused organisation offers all businesses and charitable/not-for-profit organisations, regardless of size and sector, the opportunity to obtain official Corporate Social Responsibility accreditation within 10 weeks. In addition, CSR-A offers training courses, webinars and Impact Reports. Accreditation is valid for three years and is priced on a per head basis, from sole traders to multinational corporations. CSR-A has developed a relevant and holistic framework that delivers an up-to-date standard for social responsibility and addresses ESG Compliance, SDG alignment and social value enabling a sustainable, profitable business. This standard is based upon the four key pillars of environment, workplace, community and philanthropy. This unique approach encourages Social Responsibility for every organisation and offers a means to engage, benchmark, measure, report and publicize CSR initiatives. CSR-A has redefined the ‘C’ in CSR to be inclusive, to include companies, consumers, communities, charities and citizen/collective collaboration. The mission of CSR-A is to provide a means to facilitate cultural change. The organisation has offices in the UK, Middle East, Asia and the United States. www.csr-accreditation.co.uk For further information or images please contact: Alexandra Foley alex@alexfoleyassociates.com +44 7976 73478

CIWM (Chartered Institution of Wastes Management) has been awarded a Gold CSR Accreditation - the highest level possible - from CSR-Accreditation, the leading provider of global social responsibility standards. The highly regarded CSR-A accreditation is based upon the four key pillars of corporate social responsibility – environment, workplace, community and philanthropy. Its unique approach gives organisations a means to engage, benchmark, measure, report and publicise their CSR initiatives. CIWM joins a select group of Gold Accredited organisations including Ferrovial Construction, Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, Robert Woodhead Limited and Inmarsat. Sarah Poulter, Group CEO of CIWM, said “Being awarded Gold CSR Accreditation is a proud moment for CIWM, and a significant milestone in our journey towards achieving our purpose, to move the world beyond waste. It’s not simply about what we do, but also the way we do it – living up to our word, putting our pledges and promises into action, and enabling and empowering our members to do the same. In doing so, we will make a real, tangible difference to the world we live in, both now and for generations to come. Our journey has only just begun, and we will work diligently to maintain this important accreditation and build upon the good that it represents.” Richard Collins, CSR-A founder and CEO also commented saying: ‘The independent CSR Accreditation assessment panel were suitably impressed by CIWM’s application which clearly showed that their commitment to social responsibility is deeply engrained in the organisation. Their application demonstrated a comprehensive oversight across the key elements of CSR and this is closely aligned with their purpose to move to a world beyond waste. We look forward to continuing to support them on their CSR journey.” CIWM has today also launched its Social Impact Report which details its activity and commitments around the four key pillars of corporate social responsibility. These include a pledge to reach net zero, establishing an Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) working group and the formation of a partnership with WasteAid to share skills and develop sustainable waste management practices in lower- and middle-income countries. To read the full report [click here].

CSR-A PARTNERS WITH MCANDREW LEADERSHIP FOLLOWING APPOINTMENT OF FOUNDER SAIF AHMAD AND DR HUSNA AHMAD OBE TO INTERNATIONAL ASSESSMENT PANEL

London - Monday, October 11 2021 – CSR-Accreditation, the global accreditation organisation for corporate social responsibility, announced today that it has partnered with McAndrew Leadership, founded in 2016, to offer corporate social responsibilty training programs in Bangladesh and South-East Asia. CSR training will be delivered by a handful of McAndrew Leadership consultants who have themselves undergone the rigorous CSR-A training program.

McAndrews Leadership CEO Saif Ahmad said, ‘We are delighted to partner with CSR-A which offers a truly holistic and user-friendly means for companies to start their CSR journey; our advisors are ready to roll out CSR-A’s first-class training courses and accreditation processes which allow for formal CSR accreditation in 10 weeks.’ He added ‘I am also pleased to join the assessment panel which allows me a unique vantage point’.

Saif was formerly the Chief Executive Officer of UK charities Al-Khair Foundation, Muslim Aid and Islamic Help. In 2001 he founded the Faith Regen Foundation. In 2006, he was appointed CEO of Muslim Aid. In 2009, he founded MADE in Europe, a Muslim-led movement of young people campaigning for for environmental change and sustainability.

McAndrew Leadership operates in the UK, Africa, South-East Asia and the Middle East and employs 13 consultants. The company is a training consultancy aimed at professionals in the NGO and international development sectors. It provides services and training on responsible business policies and practices empowering future leaders.

The CSR-A International Assessment Panel evaluates an organisation’s accreditation application, which measures its CSR activity.

Richard Collins, CEO of CSR-A, said ‘We are delighted that Dr. Hana Albanna’s work with us over the last six months in the Middle East has led to her introducing us to McAndrew Leadership. McAndrew reflects our values and goals to promulgate our four pillars of CSR: environment, workplace, community and philanthropy around the world.’

Dr. Hana Albanna leads CSR-A’s Middle East training programs throughout the Gulf States. Abu Dhabi Port Authority is a recent example of a company that has achieved CSR-A Gold standard accreditation.

Dr. Hana Albana is the international Initiatives Manager at Global One, a UK based Muslim women-led international development charity created under the leadership of Dr Husna Ahmad OBE who also chairs the UN Inter-Agency Task Force on Religion and Development’s Multi-Faith Advisory Council and she sits on the Steering Committee of the World Bank’s Moral Imperative Initiative. She is an honorary fellow of the Edward Cadbury Centre for the Public understanding of religion, Birmingham University.

CSR-A was founded in 2018 following the success of the International CSR Excellence Awards. CRS-A offers all businesses and charitable/not-for-profit organisations, regardless of size and sector, the opportunity to obtain official Corporate Social Responsibility accreditation within 10 weeks. In addition to the accreditation process, CSR-A offers training courses, webinars and Impact Reports and provides a holistic framework that addresses ESG Compliance, SDG alignment and social value enabling a sustainable, profitable business. Accreditation is valid for three years and is priced on a per head basis, ranging from £690 for 3 years for a sole trader (or £290 annually) right up to £15000 for 3 years for a large corporation with over 1000 employees. An independent panel of assessors judges all accreditation applications and applicants are awarded bronze, silver or gold.

CSR-A is based upon the four key pillars of corporate social responsibility – environment, workplace, community and philanthropy. This unique approach gives organisations a means to engage, benchmark, measure, report and publicize CSR initiatives.

The mission of CSR-A is to provide a means to facilitate cultural change. The organisation has offices in the UK, Middle East, Asia and the United States.

www.csr-accreditation.co.uk

For further information or images please contact:

Alexandra Foley

alex@alexfoleyassociates.com

+44 7976 73478

Read the APPG for ESG meeting minutes 8 June 2022 HERE