Employee Volunteering: Our Community – Your Business!

In the current economic crisis, it is easy to believe that nothing is really flourishing in the world of business. However, one area of growth in the corporate sector is Employer Supported Volunteering (or ESV), where companies allow their employees to take time out of their busy schedules and volunteer in their local community. Many of these companies use brokerage organisations to help source and manage their employee volunteering.

In West London, The Hammersmith and Fulham Volunteer Centre (HFVC) has been linking businesses to their local community for several years. Its success in planning ESV opportunities has led to increased demand from local companies and a stronger relationship between the third and corporate sectors, resulting in the development of a new subsidiary service called Works 4 U.

Many of the businesses that HFVC have worked with are incredibly committed. Last summer, the Walt Disney Company – which has its UK head office in Hammersmith – completed 10 one-day volunteering projects in the space of a month, to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the company’s worldwide Disney VoluntEARS programme. Dozens of staff members painted walls and pulled up weeds at community centres, primary schools and historic gardens across the borough.

Companies like Disney that are dedicated to volunteering find that they can meet their CSR commitments and give staff an extra level of job satisfaction. Says Tammy McFeggan, Director of Corporate Community Affairs at The Walt Disney Company, “Giving back to the local community is a priority for Disney in the UK and around the world. Our employees find volunteering to be enormously rewarding, and we consistently work to engage them in a range of Disney VoluntEARS activities. We’ve been working closely with HFVC for ten years and it’s great for all our staff to be involved and realise the difference we can make in our local area.

HFVC has also worked with companies like fish4, Betfair, Earls Court & Olympia, Sheraton Hotels, Harper Collins, Barclays Bank and Starbucks.

The beneficiaries of these volunteering schemes – schools, various charities and local groups – are naturally delighted to be involved, not least because the assistance they receive would otherwise cost them hundreds or thousands of pounds. It also strengthens the relationship between the corporate and voluntary sectors, which can result in ongoing community projects that help regenerate communities and improve business.

Employer Supported Volunteering is a win-win programme, utilising a company’s best assets to benefit the community in which they operate. If you are a company or a voluntary sector organisation and would like further information, please do not hesitate to contact Doreen Grant-Oppan on 020 8741 9876 or email doreen@hfvc.org.uk.