Society colleagues pledge their time and skills to support others
12 colleagues volunteered at one of Wales’ first events since the pandemic, Live Under the Stars, which took place in Cardiff Castle between 1st and 9th August. The event organiser chose the Society’s charity partner, Shelter Cymru, to be the charity of choice for the week. This was a much-needed opportunity for the organisation to fundraise and increase public awareness of their work.
Kerys Sheppard, Fundraising Manager for Shelter Cymru, said, ‘We were so grateful for the support we received from our volunteers, especially given Live Under the Stars was the first time since the pandemic that we were able to get out and about, speak to supporters and fundraise.’
Jacky Grenfell, Swansea Branch Manager, led the charge from the branches and encouraged colleagues from Swansea to Chepstow to get involved. Jacky told us, ‘It was amazing to be able to get out and support Shelter in a personal and hands on way. It was just lovely to be able to pull together as one team and get stuck in, we also had a great time enjoying the music!’
Earlier in July, a team of 6 volunteers spent the day at Sparkle’s Serennu Centre, helping the team get the sensory garden ready for the summer by painting fences, benches and attending to the weeding.
The Serennu Centre provides support and assistance for children with additional and complex medical needs offering much needed respite and therapy.
Callum Watkins, Marketing Officer at the Centre said, “It means a lot to have the support of volunteers, especially after Covid. The last 16 months have been really hard for the Centre. The area that the team worked on is used by parents who may need some quiet space, which can be due to a bereavement.”
Kristy Maloney, Regional Team Manager for Direct Sales at the Society, was so moved by Sparkle’s story that she committed her team to fundraising for the centre so that they can install an accessible pathway to enable children and parents of all abilities to access the Sensory Garden.
Colleagues from Cwmbran Branch have also been out and about, giving their own time to volunteer with the Friends of Henllys Local Nature Reserve (LNR).
The reserve is one of seven Torfaen sites designated as a local nature reserve. Torfaen Council only designate an area as a local nature reserve if it has a special interest locally, contains a variety of wildlife and can provide the community with opportunities to study and learn or, to simply enjoy.
Friends of Henllys LNR work with the Torfaen County Borough Council Countryside Section and rely on volunteers to maintain the space. A big focus is the pulling of Himalayan Balsam which is an invasive plant that has disastrous effects on the native wildflowers as it out competes them.
Chris, Chair of Friends of Henllys LNR said, “We were delighted to welcome Monmouthshire Building Society’s Cwmbran Branch on a damp Sunday morning at the beginning of August.
They discovered what we do as a voluntary group to improve the reserve for local people and wildlife. They also learned about Himalayan Balsam, an invasive non-native plant which threatens our local biodiversity.
The team were brilliant, helping us tackle a tricky area of balsam which towered amongst the brambles and nettles, all with great effort and humour. Hopefully if they all see this plant again, they'll all know exactly what to do with it!”
Laura Morris, Customer Associate in Cwmbran told us, ‘Thankfully, the weather remained dryish which gave us a good couple of hours for some hard work - as the before and after pictures show! As a branch, we donated 12 hours to the local nature reserve – and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.’
Well done to all our colleagues who’ve been out and about getting active in their communities!
