Green-fingered staff members from Nottinghamshire YMCA marked this year’s ‘Volunteer Day’ by grabbing their garden gloves and cleaning up Newark’s Balderton Park.
Armed with sun-cream and litter-picking tools, volunteers set out for the expedition in the charity’s mini-bus on Tuesday 22 May as part of the organisation’s ‘Giving Something Back’ scheme to get staff members more active in the community.
Volunteers assemble!
The trip to Balderton Park, which will soon host YMCA Newark and Sherwood‘s new ‘Community and Activity Village’, saw our six-strong team of tenacious volunteers join forces with representatives from transport charity, Sustrans, for the cause.
Volunteers spent the full day scouring acres of park surrounding the land’s vast lake for litter ahead of construction work for the village, which begins on the site this week.
With around 20 bursting litter bags and the remains of chairs, two bikes and a metal plumbing system safely removed from Balderton’s otherwise picturesque landscape – the volunteers returned to the office tired but content!
‘True community spirit’
“Working hard to care for our community’s environment is just as important as the services we deliver,” said Steve Scott, Project Development Manager at YMCA Newark and Sherwood, which is a branch of the Nottinghamshire YMCA charity.
“Showing true community spirit, we were particularly delighted that even our Chief Executive Will Wakefield turned out to get his hands dirty for this fantastic cause.
“A big thank you to everyone who kindly chose to give up their time to help shape the bright future of this beautiful area.”
Watch here the Sustrans video account of the event.
Workplace benefits
As part of the charity’s workplace benefits, every Nottinghamshire YMCA employee is entitled to enjoy one full paid Volunteer Day each tax year, with opportunities ranging from gardening days to painting community buildings.
Find out what other workplace benefits are available.