What's in it for employees?

• Meeting new people and making new networks
• Gaining new skills and improving career prospects
• Cementing relationships with colleagues
• Making a difference
• Exploring new situations and challenges
• Using skills in a different environment
• Gaining a sense of achievement
• Learning about the community in which you work

No wonder then that many companies encourage their employees to volunteer, often giving them time off to work in the community (perhaps an afternoon a month for an individual, or a day a year for a team challenge).

Individual volunteering. Employees can use existing skills to help in the community e.g. a person with an HR background becoming a trustee of a charity and attending quarterly management committee meetings. This experience can be part of a personal develop plan and contribute to career progression.
Volunteer Centres can help you find a task which fits your interests and time available.

Group / Team volunteering is great for team building exercises and the publicity is beneficial to everyone.  Local organisations often need a blitz of voluntary help to complete a particular piece of work and many businesses enjoy involving themselves in such activities.

Examples of projects undertaken by employees from companies include: -

• Mural painting at a school for children with special needs
• Creating a new shrub border at an elderly care unit 
• Redecorating a Women's Refuge 
• Creating a wild life pond at a unit for adults with learning disabilities
• Planting spring flowering bulbs at the Hospice