Team Challenges Mythbusters

Practical volunteering makes a huge difference to local communities and organisations across east London. Due to the growing reduction in staff size for charities many of which are on part time/voluntary positions themselves, team challenges are often critical. They help with capacity building and allow staff to finish tasks that staff can not otherwise complete. Without the help of volunteers, projects would take longer to finish. Volunteers leave an improved area for the local community and increase use of local facilities helping provide a safer and better cared for space for better community cohesion. Otherwise areas can become unwelcoming and facilities unused by residents can lead to anti-social behaviour and higher rates of crime.

“In times of austerity, corporate volunteering is one of the most important resources we have here in parks. They are effective, disciplined, resourceful and fun to work with! Thanks to corporate volunteering the ‘parks offer’ is a lot more. The groups have helped create new woodland areas to help bring a touch of wildlife into the urban. They’ve created growing areas to help children harvest vegetables, and if that’s not enough they plant hundreds of thousands of spring bulb to help make the park look vibrant and colourful every year!”

— Mohammed Raj – Parks Development Officer, Mile End Park

“Volunteers enable us to add the extra bit of sparkle to the borough’s parks, the work they undertake really makes a difference. We ask volunteers to tackle simple tasks, which require a lot of people power and provide a physical improvement on the day. A prime example of this is refurbishing park benches. We have around 1200 benches in the borough’s parks and keeping them looking good is a huge undertaking. Volunteers rub down the wood and metalwork and then repaint them, making the tired weather beaten benches look brand new. The volunteers really know it makes a difference as members of the public will often stop and thank them for their efforts.”

— Bruce Irving, Parks Development Officer, Hackney Parks

Team challenge budgets cover community partner costs for tools, materials and supervision, this allows the events to go ahead and take place in a safe environment. To ensure our teams volunteer responsibly we don’t want charities being left out of pocket for hosting the team volunteer days and therefore ask for contributions to the costs. ELBA try to be as up front with costs for projects as possible so you can budget accordingly. The average cost of challenges is £30 per person but some projects costs do vary as the projects can differ widely according to need.

“Charities and community groups are often volunteer led, they certainly don’t have access to the same resources or have as many employees as a financial institution. To run a corporate volunteer day we have to pay a staff member to coordinate, plan and deliver the day, this is in addition to any tools, wheelbarrows, building and material costs we may incur for hosting a team. Part of our resilience is to charge for the services and opportunities we offer, as this money is ploughed straight back into the Cemetery Park, it keeps a staff member employed and insures the Cemetery Park will remain an unmatched, unrivalled, historic and biodiverse place for all.”

— Kenneth Greenway – Manager, Friends of Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park

Yes, the site visit is needed ahead of each team challenge event, ideally 4-6 weeks prior. This allows the corporate volunteer team leader/s to meet with the community partner, see the site where they will be working, ask any questions, organise the logistics and conduct a risk assessment. The site visit is a vital part of the planning process for the community partner too, so they know who to direct questions to on the day, take into consideration team background and requirements and ensure the team understand what they will be doing. The meetings last between 30-60 minutes at the location of your volunteer activity. A site visit ensures you are well prepared as team leader/s for your volunteer group and are best practice for organising the best volunteer event you can!

“The site visit helps both sides to plan and for-see any potential difficulties or challenges. The visit engages the volunteers in the project so when they arrive to volunteer they already know that the project is very important and it will make a big difference so they are motivated.

Most of the time the team leaders know the work colleagues coming to the volunteer day and they can give you an idea of their enthusiasm or expertise in certain areas, so that you can amend the challenge slightly if necessary taking in consideration health conditions etc.

It also gives you a chance to explain the budget face to face as sometimes this helps to understand that to get a job finished properly it requires more materials that may go over there budget threshold. I always write out a budget and plan that we can talk through on this day which really helps both sides.”

— Cassie Liversidge, Gardener & Author, Primary Schools in East London

ELBA broker areas of need only. Some volunteer days are longer term projects that are in need of repeated teams, for example some outdoor tasks are continuous due to the nature of the site (invasive growth, weeding, cutting back and clearing pathways). Projects such as these often need to be repeated as the site is used by beneficiaries at all times. If teams were to repeat a painting project this would not mean teams were painting the same wall, it would be different areas of the space and any given time. Painting projects may only be redone yearly, if absolutely required due to use of the space and need for keeping an area feel welcoming, safe and well kept. Activities such as interaction with socially isolated groups require repetition due to the ongoing struggles with loneliness. A variety of volunteer engagement allows for the isolated groups to meet lots of people and engage over the year accordingly, for example summer barbeques or festive dinners.

“Several of the open spaces that I facilitate teams of corporate volunteers working on have received little maintenance on over the years and require a mix of both maintaining areas already improved to retain a good standard and work on improving new areas around the site. Two examples are on one site that has a large amount of bramble covering the ground this has required cutting back and roots removing and then later the same year or early next needs more roots removing that have survived the first session. This year we have had a similar issue with dandelion roots on another site where we have clear these from around the established planting on three separate sessions.”

— Steve Williams, Head Park Ranger, Friends of Abbotts Park

At ELBA we pride ourselves on being a broker to help businesses and local organisations work together. As a corporate volunteer with one of our team challenges, your employee helps to fund the opportunity by supplying tools, materials and supervision. It is also an opportunity to educate yourselves and team on the issues of east London and the importance of grassroot charities in the community. It provides a chance for you to team build with colleagues, making for a better workforce!

“We have been working with ELBA for over 10 years and hosting volunteers days on our adventure playground. The work the volunteers do is invaluable to us as a small children’s charity. We have just under an acre of land and play building to maintain with only 2 full time staff!

The volunteer teams help us to keep the playground in good condition whilst helping towards maintenance costs. The volunteers help maintain the playground whilst having a good day team building and really giving back to the community with their hard work. They get to know the organisation and see the importance of the volunteering. Many of the volunteer groups ask to return via ELBA over the years as we build strong positive relationships with various corporate groups.”

— Pat Macantsionnaigh and Arnold Mahoney, Playleaders, Evergreen Adventure Playground

Whilst London is going through a gentrification process in some areas, this is not always reflective of the entire community. With new homes and developments being built often these are not affordable for local residents. With an influx of affluent people to the gentrified areas local businesses and community organisations are put at risk by higher rents and demands on their services by those left behind. The community organisations in the area are still in need of help especially as costs are on the rise. With the wider disparity in local communities having a community space and facilities to come together to tackle local problems has become increasingly important.

“Areas of East London are finding themselves in an increasingly difficult situation with a widening gap between social areas. Areas of redevelopment are being populated with high earners, and more transient communities. Whereas areas of social housing that are left, communities are facing lower incomes and higher local costs. Shops that traditionally supplied cheaper alternatives and ethnically focused provisions are being replaced with high cost restaurants and cafes, which is putting further strain upon already limited and stretched incomes. Local organisations help communities facing these struggles to seek longer term solutions, as well as providing invaluable emergency support at times of crisis.”

— Debbie Mitchener, Chair- Wiltons Estate TRA