Giving back to our local community with a day’s volunteering work at one of Doncaster’s beautiful parks and green spaces.
Following our recent exhibition at the Doncaster Business Showcase we were pleased to find out that we were the lucky competition winners of a fully catered Corporate Volunteering Day! This was a competition run by Get Doncaster Moving, a partnership which brings together organisations who are committed to supporting Doncaster’s communities to become healthier and more vibrant through physical activity and sport. Funded by the National Lottery and Sport England, Get Doncaster Moving are able to offer tailor-made corporate volunteering days to businesses of all sizes across Doncaster and beyond. These corporate volunteering days are a great way to strengthen team relationships and skills, have fun together and create a real sense of shared achievement by enhancing an important community space. We couldn’t wait to get involved and help make a difference to our local community.
Choosing a location for the day
Following discussions with our leader for the day Gareth, who works for TCV (The Conservation Volunteers) we decided that a great place to volunteer would be at Hexthorpe Park, specifically in and around an area called ‘The Dell’. Hexthorpe is one of 15 parks in Doncaster that has been identified as an area for funding to help with restoration and development and we were proud to help contribute to the maintenance of this beautiful park and green space, especially given that there are currently only a small number of volunteers working in this area.
What was involved
We arrived ready to start at 10am and following a quick safety briefing we made our way down to the Dell to start digging out large shrubbery and bushes that had overgrown as well as clearing a dried out stream that ran around the perimeter of the parks bandstand, which in it’s heyday used to attract visitors from all over with live music and entertainment on display for everyone to enjoy. In its current state, the stream had dried out and become full of leaves, twigs, rocks and mud that we needed to rake up, shovel into wheelbarrows and move to the compost heap. This work was being done to help prepare for the stream to be full once again.
Following a morning of hard graft, we enjoyed a nice break in the sunshine and some lunch before moving on to the afternoons activity which was completing a BioBlitz of the park! This incorporated a walk around the park and nearby river whilst taking photos of the different varieties of plants and animal species and identifying and logging these on an app to help generate scientifically valuable biodiversity data that helps scientists better understand and protect nature in specific areas. This was a great team activity that got everyone reconnecting with nature and being mindful of our surroundings.
A great day of team building and volunteering work
Volunteering for the day was also a great opportunity for us to spend some time together away from the office, strengthening team relationships and skills whilst having fun and creating a real sense of shared achievement by enhancing an important community space. We loved being a part of this corporate volunteering day and will be looking to do more throughout the year!
Rounding off a fulfilling day
After completing the BioBlitz and getting wrapped up for a 4pm finish, we were presented with a certificate of appreciation for participating in the corporate volunteering day and the work we had completed during the day. This called for a quick stop off at a local pub beer garden to enjoy a well earned drink to round off a fulfilling and rewarding day for all!
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