Our activity
Employee volunteering – Just an hour – latest volunteering activity
Lound ragwort project - Suffolk
A working party of 14 employees worked with the Lound catchment officer from the Trinity Broads Authority to clear ragwort from an eight acre field in Lound, Suffolk. Ragwort is an invasive weed that crowds out more delicate plants on the uncommon acidic grassland, it is also toxic to horses that graze in neighbouring fields. A large pile of ragwort was the result of a day spent by the volunteers largely on their knees pulling up ragwort from important grassland at this site. A successful day with many a sore muscle to show for their efforts, especially in such a large area.
St Peters Church, West Hanningfield - Essex
Following an approach from Roy Radford, church warden, our senior manager, Brian Olley, used the Just an hour initiative as a one day team building event and persuaded his eight team leaders and his secretary Jan to install a water supply to St Peter's Church which overlooks Hanningfield reservoir. This atmospheric little church was built in 1180 and until now, has not had a water supply 'on tap'. The church stands in a fairly remote position from the mains supply and the cost of installing a water pipe was much more than the PCC could afford. The parishioners bring their own water to church in plastic bottles, the pewter christening jug being filled from old plastic milk cartons. The team installed 250 metres of pipe to a standpipe on the edge of the cemetery. The parishioners are now able to hold community events, supplying tea/coffee etc, hold christenings and tend loved ones graves using water from this new supply.
A number of staff have supported Young Enterprise initiatives in their local schools. The most popular of which is the primary programme which, in recent months staff have taken part in five days in both Essex and Suffolk. Altogether eight staff have mentored classes of primary school children through projects entitled Team Building or Our World days. The tools which include flashcards and games encourage young children to work and play as part of a team or learn where for instance, food and materials come from, how far they travel before appearing in shops in their local high street. These are rewarding and enjoyable fun days for both the children and the volunteers who take part.
This is a fast-growing Essex charity which we are supporting for the third year running. In October this year, 12 staff paired up and each couple took daily shifts over a one week period to drive a transit van around approximately 70 Essex schools to collect the hundreds of food parcels containing basic dried foods such as pasta, flour and sugar collected by schoolchildren delivering them to a warehouse in Chelmsford for onward transportation to a Bulgarian orphanage and its surrounding elderly community. One member of staff is so committed to this charity that he travels with the lorries out to Bulgaria and is part of the working party which stays for one week carrying out essential maintenance to the run down building and grounds at the orphanage.
Payroll givingMore than 4% of our employees have signed up for the programme since its launch in October 2005. More than £17,000 in total has been donated to the charities and good causes supported by our employees.
Employee sponsorship – Cheque it out
Many of our employees take advatage of our employee sponsorship programme.
Many of our sponsorships support health initiatives which encourage children into sport while at the same time give us the opportunity to promote the importance of drinking water as part of a healthy lifestyle.