Around 45 students, aged 13 to 17, have taken part in the CyberFirst scheme, a government-recognised programme, developed by GCHQ’s National Cyber Security Centre and run by Energus in west Cumbria.

The group worked alongside industry specialists to gain an insight into the critical role they could play in securing the nation’s digital infrastructure and services.

Training took place in a cyber lab environment, all aimed at giving the students a realistic experience of working in the cyber industry.

The STEM-related course underpins the skills and knowledge needed to prepare young people for the complex field of cyber security.

It included sessions on security devices, understanding networks, dealing with insecure devices, and securing yourself.

Cyber security and resilience has become a priority for industry and in January the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) funded the launch of the Cyber Lab classroom at Energus, with the aim of closing the skills gap in cyber security.

It forms part of an NDA cyber programme that is designed to grow capability and capacity for the NDA and its businesses, bolstered by an £80 million investment over the next 5 years in cyber safety.

Brad Cleaver, Business Services Manager at Energus, who ran the CyberFirst course, said:

We started recruiting for this course in October through drop-in sessions at schools across Cumbria. CyberFirst is an opportunity for our staff to spot potential cyber experts while encouraging computer science at school and future careers paths into apprenticeships and specific courses.

Yasmin El Mozer, aged 17, took part in the CyberFirst programme. She said that she’d had the chance to talk to cyber tutors and learn more about future career paths in the industry. The hands-on opportunity offered by the programme helped her understand the need for cyber security and how systems can be hacked.

Rob Higgins, the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority’s Security Information and Services Director, added:

The CyberFirst initiative is a pivotal part of the government’s National Cyber Security Programme. Cyber security and resilience is vital to the NDA and its estate, so encouraging young people into cyber-related careers will go a long way in helping to keep us safe in the future from the growing cyber threat.

As a government organisation and a large employer, corporate social responsibility (CSR) is important to us. We’re committed to ethical and sustainable business practices. This means we take account of our social, economic and environmental impact. CSR is good for the planet, our employees, customers and communities.

There are 4 main strands to our CSR activities.

1. Environment (estates and environment)

We’re committed to reducing our direct impact on the environment by actively managing our waste, emissions and consumption of natural resources.

2. People (human resources, health and wellbeing)

We aim to create a workplace that encourages diversity and equal opportunities for all. We actively encourage professional development through our 5-days-a-year learning programme and support employee health and wellbeing.

3. Procurement (finance and purchasing)

We seek out the most advantageous procurement route for the life of a project. This means 90% of our supply chain contracts are through government frameworks, where suppliers have been tendered, audited and checked against important criteria like financial stability and environmental compliance.

4. Community (volunteering, skills matching and fundraising)

To play a positive role in society, we’ve built a culture that promotes employee volunteering, skills matching and fundraising. We actively support local businesses and the communities in which we operate.

Origins of our CSR

In 2014, we created our CSR strategy. Its aim was to bring together and recognise the range of CSR activities we were already doing and to outline future commitments under each of the 4 main strands. We wanted to show how we’re contributing to sustainable development and adopting responsible behaviours that reflect our core values as an organisation.

Our CSR today

Since 2013, we’ve raised over £50,000 for charity and this year we’ve been accredited with the MIND gold award and the IIP gold award.

Our CSR activities have grown significantly over the last 5 years. We’ve increased our volunteer days from 3 to 5 days a year. This means each employee now gets 5 days a year to go out and support local projects and charities. We also have CSR ambassadors across the organisation, who help the CSR team set up and run various community projects.

Some of our current team volunteer days include:

• Bute Park Litter Pick
• Cardiff Food Bank
• Cardiff Dogs Home
• Ty Hafan Craft Centre

Our CSR Coordinator, Leanne Hugglestone, spoke to us about her passion for CSR and our responsibilities as a government organisation to help the local community.

Leanne said:

According to ‘Business in the Community’, a good goal to have for staff volunteering is around the 18 to 20% mark. Last year we hit 28% unique volunteers in Companies House.

Leanne explains how we’ve impacted our community, and the future of CSR at Companies House. From donating our office furniture worth over £40,000, to helping local charities through the knowledge and skills of our staff volunteers.

To stay up to date with our CSR activities, follow us on Twitter and search #CompaniesHouseCSR.

Updated: Taken out the requirement for the technical lead to provide an address as this is not included in the application form.

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