Never one to rest on its laurels, the Commerce division of The Insurance Emporium decided it would do something a little different for its annual team building event this year.
Marking a year since our partnership began with York Cares, the division planned a volunteering week that would focus on improving community spaces across York.
If you’re unfamiliar with them, York Cares is an independent employee-volunteering charity, which brings businesses, employees and communities together to make York a better place. Furthermore, York Cares work with over 30 employers in the city!
So let’s find out more about what each team got up to over the week.
Day 1: Rawcliffe Country park
Kicking off the week, our first wave of volunteers were immediately faced with challenging conditions, thanks to the tail end of a mini heatwave! In 26-degree heat, the team were clearing reeds and vegetation around a pond, as well as building a dead hedge.
Among plenty of hydration breaks the team got stuck in and did a fantastic job with a big smile on their faces throughout the day.
Day 2: Victoria park
Over on day two and it was another scorcher! The team were tasked with cleaning play equipment ahead of a colourful makeover with a fresh lick of paint.
After a quick change into some ‘official’ protective gear, they transformed into what could only be described as a taskforce from CSI. The team worked tirelessly to reinvigorate the play equipment, and I think we can all agree that they a great job.
Day 3: Acomb Green Memorial Garden
Hitting mid-week and the temperature was much kinder to our latest bunch of volunteers, who would be spending the day weeding and planting. The team got stuck in with litter picking, edging the pathway up to the memorial as well as clearing a lot of weeds and preparing the soil for 50 new plants.
The sun reappeared in the afternoon rewarding the team for all their efforts, with the final planting worthy of a Gold ‘Best in Show’ award at the Chelsea Flower Show.
Day 4 and 5: Viking Road Park, Acomb
On our final two days, the last sets of volunteers were deployed to the same destination with some serious work ahead of them.
Day four’s group were in the infamous protective gear ahead of giving the mini play area, bench and goals a good clean-up ahead of some painting. They then moved onto a bit of gardening and clearing, finishing off with prepping the bike racks for painting by the next team. They really took to the challenge like a duck to water and got stuck in.
On the fifth and final day of volunteering the team were initially tasked with painting the bike racks before getting down and dirty digging a drainage system, so that when it rains the children can still play in the playground. What a phenomenal effort to round off the week!
The entire division had a fantastic week, there’s been plenty of smiles and laughter and most importantly, some serious teamwork coming together to make a difference in our local community.
Here’s a word from our Chief Executive Officer at The Insurance Emporium, Francis Martin: “Our values – being caring, trustworthy, knowledgeable, and collaborative – are more than words; they’re the foundation of everything we do. This week of volunteering in York was a fantastic example of our team living those values, coming together to support local spaces that bring people together. I’m proud of everyone who took part and grateful to our charity partner, York Cares, for the opportunity to make a lasting impact in our community.”
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