Team Volunteering at Holmers House, High Wycombe

This group of volunteers are from Kantar and are shown here taking a break from a hard day’s gardening at Holmers House, a residential home for people with dementia in High Wycombe run by Heritage Care.

The Volunteers: this group (Jo, Jane, Andy and Christine) were the second group from Kantar, the world’s leading data, insights and consulting company helping global brands grow combining human understanding with advanced technologies, to volunteer as gardeners at Holmers House.

How did they come to be here? The session was set up as part of Kantar’s group-wide programme to offer all its employees two days each year which they can spend volunteering. The company negotiated various opportunities at different locations and emailed employees some choices for group volunteering. This opportunity at Holmers House was arranged through Community Impact Bucks.

What does the group get out of volunteering? It is a great opportunity to spend time doing something useful alongside people from different parts of the office who we don’t normally work with. On a personal level, it is good to have the chance to give something back to the community. Head gardener for the day is Jane (2nd left) who is a gardening enthusiast at home.

Has the group done this type of volunteering before? Jo (far left) has previously been part of a group volunteering team clearing rubbish out of the river Wye in High Wycombe – gardening at Holmers House is much drier, but river clearance was fun too.

Do any of the group do other types of volunteering (not through the company)? Christine (far right) also volunteers as a gardener at the Florence Nightingale Hospice in Stoke Mandeville, so is used to lending her green fingers to a good cause.

What are the challenges of taking on a day’s volunteering like this? The key challenge identified by the group was having to make time for the work waiting back at the office, but they were all prepared to do a bit of jiggling thing around to make the time. The benefit of being here for the day outweighs the slight hassle of doing that.

Are the group enjoying it and would they recommend it to others?  Yes! All four put they hands up as enjoying it and the message to others is – “Give it a go!”.

A word from the care home manager: Martyn Browne, the care home manager, was enthusiastic about the scheme, saying “it’s been brilliant”. In this clip he explains what group volunteers bring to the task: Martyn Browne Clip.

Do you want to volunteer with colleagues?  Register your interest with Community Impact Bucks here.

Do you have a volunteer opportunity suitable for teams of employees?   Register your interest with Community Impact Bucks here.

 

Updated on November 4, 2019

Back
Image courtesy of St Francis's Children Society