The Big Help Out was set up last year in response to the decline in volunteering post-pandemic. This year’s event saw around 7 million people take part across over 50 thousand events throughout the UK.
In line with our company values of Collaboration, Courage and Curiosity, GatenbySanderson wanted to give colleagues the opportunity to build better connections with their community, the environment and with their colleagues through taking part in a volunteering day with The Conservation Volunteers (TCV).
GatenbySanderson has supported TCV for the past three years through choosing the organisation as our Charity of The Year in 2022 and numerous employees participating in volunteering days as part of our CSR commitment, helping TCV to achieve their ambition of creating greener and nicer public spaces for us to all enjoy.
On Friday June 7th, a team of nine employees joined together at Dulwich Upper Wood to replace fencing and create a pathway edge to improve safety and accessibility of the ancient woodland. The site was surveyed under Henry VIII’s rule, some of the oak trees are over 300 years old and the space is now home to a project to conserve the increasingly rare Stag Beetle.
Elizabeth Theobald, Partner said, “It was amazing to work in nature for the day in this beautiful environment, away from screens. We learned new skills and bonded with colleagues over a shared goal.”
Jenny Tester, Senior Consultant said, “The sense of achievement from taking part in the day and making a visible difference to my local community, has inspired me to do more to support the environment as well as helping me to get to know people I wouldn’t otherwise work with directly.”
TCV worked with over 87,000 volunteers last year. 89% said they learned new skills, 93% felt more connected to nature and 93% said their wellbeing had improved.
TCV Volunteering Day
At GatenbySanderson we are proud of our commitment to the causes that are important to us. As a company we aim to be Net Carbon Zero by 2030 and every colleague is given two days per year to use for volunteering.