VGL have a number of charities dear to its heart. Every year we try and support a few good causes, and take pride in the fact that our employees embrace them as well.

Tawaranda Primary School
One of the charities closest to our heart is Tawaranda Primary School in Togo, where our fundraising has aided the construction of three new classrooms. Thanks to a great campaign and the enthusiasm of our employees, the school has seen genuine improvements. Now completed, the project also provided new desks and books for the pupils, and new offices for the teachers.

Leukaemia Research
VGL are helping to finance critical research into CML (chronic myelogenous leukaemia) at the University of Liverpool, where Professor Steven Edwards and Dr Andrew Cross are working to improve the effectiveness of chemotherapy. CML cells are resistant to chemotherapy because the normal processes that control cell death and survival are defective in these cells. Professor Edwards and Dr Cross think they have found a way to manipulate CML cells so they become more sensitive to chemotherapy drugs. If successful, their research could help more people beat the disease. Michael Ayerst, Managing Director of VGL, has run two London Marathons in aid of the project and Leukaemia Research. In total we will be donating over £20,000 to the charity.

Leukaemia Research are managing the project – find out more at www.lrf.org.uk

Whenever possible, we like to support our customers and suppliers – whether it’s a sponsored run or walk, or the occasional bath in cold baked beans. Other charities we’ve supported include Macmillan Nurses, Children In Need and Camp Mohawk, a UK charity organisation providing support for the families of autistic children.

If you are seeking support or you’d like us to include a link to your charity on our website, please let us know – we are happy to help if we can.

A family-run business since 1976, we’ve always tried to run the best possible practice, in the hope that it will prove mutually beneficial for our staff, our customers and our communities. Recognizing our commitments in this area, in 1992 we were the first UK graphics company to be awarded the quality standard BS5750 Pts I & II.

We have also been awarded BS ISO 14001:2004 in recognition of our ongoing commitment to an improved environmental performance.

We received our Safecontractor accreditation having achieved the required health and safety standards for the workplace.

Many of our key processes now use friendlier inks such as UV and water based inks, the majority of which are certified to the Nordic Swan Environmental Standard.

We are a Scotchprint Graphics Authorised Manufacturer and a recommended producer of 3M graphics.

VGL have been awarded BS ISO 14001:2004 for our environmental management system.

We know the best way for us to reduce our impact on the environment is to improve our products, our technology and our systems. We don’t make false claims or wave bogus flags. Instead, we continually strive to improve what we do in a quiet, assured manner. We’ve updated nearly all our digital equipment in recent years, ensuring the usage of more environmentally friendly ink systems and processes. We are constantly exploring new material options with our suppliers and partners.

For example, we have worked with suppliers and partners to explore new, greener options such as digital textiles. Printing with water-based dyes on a wide range of fabrics, digital textiles can reduce the carbon footprint of a given project. Lightweight and easy to handle, they are more energy-efficient to ship than other, heavier display systems. They are also 100% recyclable, while the dyes are harmless, odour free and produce no VOCs (volatile organic compounds).

We carefully control our waste streams, avoiding unnecessary wastage and recycling as much material as possible. We’ve also significantly reduced our carbon footprint by introducing energy-efficient equipment and company cars, and by improving our heating and insulation systems.

We appreciate ISO 14001 accreditation is just the start, but it’s a good one.