Enactus UK & Ireland
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Empowering a Sustainable Future
British Airways is committed to sustainability and making a positive impact on the world. Your challenge is to create a pitch for a new partnership that aligns with their sustainability strategy.
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Project Brief
We recognise that flying comes at a cost to the environment and we need to take urgent action to tackle the impact it has on our planet.
At British Airways, we’re on a journey to create a better, more sustainable future. We call it BA Better World.
CHALLENGE OBJECTIVE:
Choose a new charity partnership for British Airways.
Submit a partnership proposal for a new partnership that aligns with our sustainability strategy and one of the below categories:
Creating opportunities for people in disadvantaged or underrepresented groups.
Bringing people together to help create thriving, happy and healthy communities.
Improving access to nature, restoring natural habitats and enhancing biodiversity in local communities.
Things to consider/include
Why have you chosen this charity?
How does it align with BA better world?
What problem does it solve?
What impact has the charity had so far? Vision, mission statement etc
Project Plan for the Partnership:
Marketing/social media strategy
Length of partnership and reasoning why
Submission
Deadline: 27th October, 11:59 PM
Submission Opens: 25th October, 11 AM
In the working world, you're often required to present ideas with minimal guidelines—whether it’s a presentation, report, or video pitch. That’s why we’ve given you the flexibility to submit your ideas in whichever format you feel works best. This mirrors real-world scenarios where it’s up to you to decide how to effectively communicate your ideas without restrictions like word count or slide count.
While we value experiential learning and want you to embrace this freedom, we also recognise that some guidance can be helpful. Below, we’ve provided a few ideas on how you could structure your submission. These are simply suggestions to inspire you and offer a bit of direction. Feel free to adapt or disregard them as you see fit—it's not required that you follow these templates.
Good luck, and we look forward to seeing your creativity in action!
Final Tips for All Formats:
Be Specific About Alignment: Make sure to clearly explain how your chosen charity aligns with BA’s sustainability strategy. Focus on one of the three main categories (disadvantaged groups, thriving communities, or biodiversity).
Use Data to Support Your Proposal: Where possible, provide examples of the charity’s success and impact. This could include case studies, statistics, or testimonials.
Focus on Collaboration: Demonstrate how the partnership will be mutually beneficial for both BA and the charity. Consider how BA’s resources and visibility can enhance the charity’s mission.
Marketing and Social Media Strategy: Be creative and think about how BA’s global reach can be used to amplify the message of the partnership. Consider digital and traditional media strategies to engage both consumers and stakeholders.
Be Mindful of Timeframes: When proposing the partnership length, explain why this duration is meaningful (e.g., allowing enough time to achieve measurable results or align with annual campaigns).
Introduction to British Airways
A culture of sustainability that’s valuable to customers.
Creating a diverse and inclusive workplace that contributes to a sense of wellbeing and belonging, enabling people to thrive.
Driving urgent action towards net zero emissions with ambitious short, medium and long-term initiatives to achieve our goals.
Support community initiatives across the UK and around the world.
Importance to our customers
At the Customer Directorate, we are responsible for the aspects of the travel experience that customers see, touch, and feel. While carbon offsetting plays a crucial role in our BA Better World program and commitment to net zero, it’s not something customers directly experience during their journey. The customer experience is where we have the opportunity to capture their hearts and minds through our sustainability initiatives.
Customer feedback highlights this clearly. When asked what they would change to make their flight more sustainable or reduce its impact, customers consistently ranked tangible elements—such as reducing single-use plastics and increasing reusability—at the top of their list.
Great work we’ve achieved so far
• CW blankets removed 47 tonnes of single-use plastic a year, birchwood cutlery removed 130 tonnes of SUP a year, and WTP blankets removed 20 tonnes of single-use plastic a year in total.
Our partner, Tourvest, offers a range of sustainable in-flight products, including:
Toast Ale: Beer brewed from surplus bread.
PlayinChoc: Dairy, nut, gluten, and plastic-free chocolate.
Scrapples: Crisps made from "wonky" fruit that would otherwise go to landfill.
We've also refreshed our onboard recycling program to enhance waste management, and introduced vegan food options in our lounges, catering to diverse dietary preferences.
Customers can now offset their flight emissions easily from the comfort of their seats. With a £2.50 contribution, they can support two carbon offset projects through our Speedbird Café on short-haul flights, or via the .air Wi-Fi platform on both short- and long-haul flights. Offsetting is also available on the BA Fly Carbon Neutral website.
Additionally, we've rolled out water taps across our lounges, a project that began in July and was completed by September.
Community Key Achievements 2022
Comic Relief
• £27.1 million raised for Flying Start/Comic Relief since June 2010 (962,000 people)
• Onboard customers can donate through cash, QR code, wifi portal and menus
• New Avod film produced going onboard end January. Filmed in India and Scotland
• Red Nose campaign raised £898.000
• Comic Relief Winter campaign donated 100k and avios opportunity for the cost of living crisis campaign
Disaster Emergency Committee
• Supported two humanitarian campaigns this year. Ukraine and Pakistan over £500,000 reached in 6 weeks campaign
• 52 tonnes of cargo donated, 37 flights, 93 excess baggage requests.
• In total we have raised 1.7 million for 20 humanitarian appeals
Colleague Engagement
• 231 colleagues volunteered
• 4632 Flying Start Champions (17% of all workforce)
• 2932 colleagues’ payroll currently and that’s 10.8% of the workforce and they generate nearly a million for charities.
• Match giving programme £250 donated to each colleague that actively volunteers or fundraises. We allocated £25,000 to 36 charities