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A team of NI Water volunteers recently spent a day helping out at Camphill Community Mourne Grange near Kilkeel, working on the farm and gardens at the local charity.
The volunteering day is part of NI Water's Cares Challenge project which has been running successfully for over ten years and is one of the largest corporate volunteering schemes in the province. To date over 1,700 staff have volunteered in over 120 challenges, equating to more than 12,000 hours of volunteering to help support communities across Northern Ireland.
NI Water volunteer Graham Truesdale said they made a big difference and it was good to be able to interact with the service users at Camphill Community.
The programme runs in partnership with Business in the Community's NI Cares Programme, which identifies organisations and charities within the local community who need a helping hand with physical tasks such as gardening and painting. Activities are planned for various groups throughout Northern Ireland each year.
Rose Kelly, NI Water's Director of People and Learning, said the company's helpers have undertaken everything from gardening, painting and maintenance to environmental and fundraising days. She explained it is often the extra support that these groups require to enhance their facilities, improve the lives of their members and operate their centres successfully.
Ms Kelly added that volunteering has also proved to be a key part of the company's health and wellbeing toolkit, with teams gaining so much from the experience, not only by helping the community but also having the chance to spend time with colleagues from around the business that they might not otherwise have a chance to meet.
