#MSGivesBack

With June being Global Volunteer Month for Morgan Stanley, teams from across the globe went out in full force to participate in a range of volunteering activities to support their local communities. Volunteers from Morgan Stanley in London went across a selection of parks in Tower Hamlets & Waltham Forest to help improve outdoor community spaces in east London.

At one site, Leyton Jubilee Park, there is a large ecology area that is completely overgrown; and as a result is not well used by the by the community. Volunteers were needed to help maintain the overgrown site by cutting back bramble, trees and weeding. Volunteers also helped revamp the children’s play area to make it more attractive to young users of the park.

Another outdoor space was St Mary’s Church, a Grade II parish Church of Walthamstow which is 900 years old. Some parts have become disused and this is where volunteers’ assistance was invaluable. Clearing a mass area at the site helping to reduce anti-social behaviour and make the site tidier.

Steve Williams, Lead Park Ranger (Waltham Forest Parks) said “users of the park really appreciate seeing volunteers help in their local area and give back to the community”. Steve and his team immensely appreciated the help of the volunteers which made a huge difference to the appearance of the parks across the borough.

Mile End Park is a large and vibrant park in Tower Hamlets which offers a wide range of facilities for the local community in the form of sports & art in the environment. Morgan Stanley volunteers helped create brand new picnic benches for families, friends and the community to use at their leisure. They also planted plants, put up brand new fences and helped increase footfall by making it more welcoming and safer for users. Park Rangers from Mile End Park expressed “without the volunteers we wouldn’t have got through such tasks, it would have taken us months to complete.”

As a result of the work completed by Morgan Stanley, Leyton Jubilee Park has gained ‘Green Flag Status®’ an accreditation for well managed parks and green spaces. ELBA helps support more than 15 sites in east London in Tower Hamlets, Hackney and Waltham Forest that have also achieved this award with the help of proactive volunteers!

A massive thank you to Morgan Stanley this year with 600+ volunteers who completed 3,600 volunteer hours, across the community supporting east London!