Employer supported volunteering (ESV), or corporate volunteering, is where the employees of an organisation take time to volunteer during work hours or organise volunteer activities. Employees might choose to support a charity or community group, or take up an opportunity provided by their workplace.
Here at Action Together we like to put into practice what we offer, giving all our employees the opportunity to volunteer. We recognise the importance of volunteering in the community and actively encourage and enable our employees to participate in local volunteering activities.
Employees are entitled to an agreed amount of paid leave, per financial year, to engage in voluntary work with a registered VCFSE organisation whose work benefits communities in Oldham, Rochdale, and/or Tameside.
A fruitful afternoon in the orchards
Members of our Oldham team recently spent an afternoon volunteering at Wildbrook Growing Hubs, helping to harvest an abundant crop of plums from the orchard. The fruit needed picking, sorting, and packaging so it could be shared with the local community.
Hannah Williams, Community Food Growing Co-ordinator at Wildbrook, welcomed the team and demonstrated the best techniques for harvesting plums, as well as how to sort the fruit according to quality.
The team then spent the afternoon enjoying the outdoors, filling baskets with freshly picked plums while taking the opportunity to connect with colleagues and other volunteers in the beautifully maintained orchard.
Vanessa shared, "We chose to volunteer at Wildbrook because it was an opportunity to spend some time in nature, visit a lovely local community garden and actually slow down. I really enjoyed spending that time with colleagues, picking the fruit, connecting with nature and the volunteers at Wildbrook, and enjoying some tasty plums!"
Kasim added, "We really appreciate the ESV policy that Action Together provides. It's a great encouragement for us to get out and volunteer in a way that is flexible and accessible. It means we can support local groups in many different ways outside of our regular work."
After finishing the harvest, the lovely team at Wildbrook kindly gifted everyone a bag of delicious plums to take home. The team also visited the kitchen to watch a demonstration on how to make homemade plum jam.
We would like to thank everyone at Wildbrook for their warm hospitality and for providing our Oldham team with such a rewarding opportunity to connect, contribute, and give back to the community.
Click here to find out more about Wildbrook Growing Hub, or you can email contact@localfoodfirst.org.uk to discuss volunteering opportunities.
How you can get involved
Interested in introducing Employer Supported Volunteering in your workplace?
