LOCAL COMMUNITIES continued COMMUNITIES AND CHARITIES We support local communities and charities where our students and colleagues live and work. This helps us build relationships locally and gives our teams opportunities to develop new skills. Several of our properties have community spaces which are used by charities serving the community. Our volunteering scheme allows all employees to volunteer for up to one full day per year. In 2024, we evolved our Positive Impact scheme, encouraging all teams to build long- term relationships with either a community organisation or a charity. We now have relationships with 47 local communities and charities across the country, resulting in an increase in the number of gold Positive Impact awards from nine in 2023 to 28 in 2024. New developments provide an opportunity to work with local authorities and partners to incorporate dedicated community spaces in our buildings. Both our Avon Point and Burnet Point developments, due to be completed in 2025, include dedicated spaces designed to meet the needs of the local community, adding to the four existing community spaces across our existing estate. Our charity-match scheme tops up any fundraising by employees by up to £250 per year, and makes a further £100 donation to the Unite Foundation for any funds raised above this level. In 2024, £14,454 was donated as a result of match-giving to 19 different charities, with a further £8,600 donated to the Unite Foundation. This is in addition to the financial support for accommodation scholarships we provided to the charity. Looking forward to 2025, we’re exploring new options to develop our Positive Impact scheme further. We are keen to increase the number of long- standing community partnerships where we make vacant space available to community partners. Case study Reading at local schools Since 2023, our Legal and CoSec team has been supporting Ablaze, a charity addressing inequality for young people in the West of England. The team volunteered at a local school in Bristol, providing 1-to-1 reading support for pupils. Their efforts have helped students improve reading skills, confidence, and self-esteem. https://ablazebristol.org/ “ I love reading with my reading partner. She told me funny stories and helped me lots.” PUPIL PARTICIPANT THE UNITE GROUP PLC Sustainability Report 2024 GOVERNANCE APPROACH PROGRESS SOCIAL IMPACT LOOKING FORWARD APPENDICES Our key ambitions and targets Ambition 2022 2023 2024 Actual 2024 Target Progress Invest 1% of adjusted profit in social initiatives each year 1.2% 1.3% 1.2% 1% Exceeded All teams achieve Positive Impact award of bronze or higher 100% bronze 24% Bronze 52%, Silver, 24% Gold 0% Bronze, 40% Silver, 60% Gold 100% Bronze or higher Exceeded 20% employee participation in volunteering 1% 22% 31% 20% Exceeded Our key ambition and metrics in this area are set out below (additional metrics and targets are in Appendix 3): 12 GOVERNANCE APPROACH SOCIAL IMPACT LOOKING FORWARD APPENDICES PROGRESS