On Friday 17th May 2013 24 Santia employees participated in Give and Gain Day volunteering with local community projects. Santia was one of 31 companies who took part in Wales; over 4,700 volunteering hours were donated in total to benefit 23 community groups and schools.
Here are some highlights from Give and Gain Day 2013 worldwide:
Why Give and Gain Day?
Santia aims to be the partner of choice for health, safety and environmental risk management consultancy. Our business is built on developing and maintaining valued relationships with customers and the local community.
Give and Gain Day was a fantastic opportunity for Santia to develop sustainable partnerships with local Welsh communities and for employees to feel positive about volunteering.
One Santia employee said:
“Getting a group of people who work for the same company but who don’t really know each other to function as an effective team. It’s amazing how so much got done on the day.”
In Wales staff from Santia volunteered at the YMCA, Mountain Ash and Maerdy Community Primary School.
The YMCA is used as a meeting place for various groups from karate to dance. The aim of the Mountain Ash YMCA project was to bring it up to a good standard following the failure of a Welsh Government health and safety audit and also enhance the whole building to make it more appealing and presentable for the people who use the building.
The Graigwen, Maerdy project involved improving the local park and outdoor space for the local primary school. Santia volunteers were involved with painting and repairing fences at the park, and planting at the school.
Sue Belcher, Maerdy Community Primary School Head Teacher said:
“There were a large number of volunteers who all took on their individual roles and all projects were achieved very successfully. We have included over 100 parents and their children in planting the areas prepared by the volunteers.”
Other Welsh projects included Urban Games Transition, a multi-sports event involving 360 pupils, building an eco-friendly greenhouse made of bottles at Bedwas Infant School and preparing some nest and bat boxes for use at educational events for the RSPB Cymru.
Here are some highlights from Give and Gain Day 2013 in Wales:
A Santia employee said:
“I feel that volunteering is rewarding as I have helped my local community greatly.”
The volunteers from Santia really enjoyed Give and Gain Day. Click here to see photos and testimonials from the day.
It wasn’t just Santia staff that had a great time, feedback from a Give and Gain Day volunteer survey revealed:
Next year’s Give and Gain Day will take place on Friday 16th May 2014 and will focus on sporting activities and environmental projects at either schools or nature reserves. We look forward to being a part of such a fantastic project again next year and hope other companies will be inspired to get involved.