Sun, fun and lots to be done
Written by Kita Berman van Heerden, Challenge:ELBA Project Manager
Every year, ELBA and BIG Alliance come together to have our very own volunteering day supporting one of our community partners. This year, 45 volunteers gave a helping hand to Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park (THCP). The park is set across 31 acres of woodland and meadows in the heart of Mile End and is a really beautiful place we’d recommend all to visit. Due to the pandemic, like many of our corporate partners, we have not been able to volunteer together as a whole collective since 2019, so our visit to THCP was one to remember. The day started with strong cups of tea and coffee and everyone getting kitted out with gloves and wheelbarrows full of the equipment we would need for the day. Ken, the Park Manager, talked us through the incredible history of the park and its development since it was first opened in 1841. Did you know it is one of the ‘magnificent seven’ cemetery parks in London? After the safety talk, we were divided into groups and set to work.
Gloved up and ready for a challenge, one team went ahead tackling the nettles, bindweed and ivy that had overgrown and taken root in some of the more accessible areas for the public. Once a wheelbarrow was full of unwanted foliage, it was pushed up the path and added to the huge compost heap. Another team dug up holes for bulbs and planted tulips, snowdrops and many others ahead of spring, blooming across paths scattered with colourful petals. In total, over 700 bulbs were planted! The final team was armed with loppers to remove brambles and thick nettles that needed a more forceful approach.
Breaking for lunch, we all sat around and caught up with colleagues we see less often due to the hybrid working pattern. It also gave staff a chance to meet new faces, board members and the latest Eagles cohort (graduates starting 6-month work placements in CSR with our corporate partners) who joined us for the day. We finished the day with a big round of thank yous from Ken and the team at the park and from ELBA and BIG Alliance for hosting us all. It is safe to say, many of us might be feeling a sore, tired and stiff from the hard work but having the opportunity to be together outside of the office environment and volunteer our time at a local community partner we often support through corporate partners, was really rewarding. As we walked out of the main gates, colleagues were already discussing ideas and speculating about where the next ELBA/BIG volunteering day could be!
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