Each year our colleagues spend a day volunteering with a local good cause, charity or community. The Day for Kent scheme gives more than 200 volunteering days a year to local communities and good causes.
This year our Estates Team decided to volunteer in one of our local communities, at Melville Court in Chatham. The team of 40 spent Friday 27 September repainting the seating areas and bins, preparing and planting the shrub beds, clearing back weeds, vegetation, litter picking and tidying the trees, alongside our tree contractor, Medway Trees.
“It was great to see so many people come together and volunteer their time to help improve this community space. We had loads of great feedback on the day from residents and local businesses, but we couldn’t have done it without the people who helped us – colleagues from team mhs, residents, our contactor, Medway Trees, staff from Life Skills and from the Royal Voluntary Service – thank you”, said Estates Delivery Manager Bernard O'Beirne.
Residents were encouraged to pop down and say hello to the team and help out if they wanted to. Sharon Robinson has lived at Melville Court for 37 years and has been an Estate Champion for four years. She joined the team on the day to paint benches.
“mhs are doing a lot more work today than I expected which is great, some of the flower beds are being shared with the residents to look after and manage, which is nice. It’s important to have a say on what happens here, I think it’s great to be involved on what goes on”, said Sharon.
Refreshments were provided by the Royal Voluntary Service (RVS) and Infinity Life Skills, both of which are based at Melville Court.
RVS is a volunteer-based organisation which aims to enrich the lives of older people and their families across Britain.
Infinity Life Skills is a non-profit making organisation that believes everyone has the right to work. They provide support and training within a real working environment for clients on the Autistic Spectrum.
