By Matt Richardson, Head of Leadership, Skills & Social Impact – GM Business Growth Hub
Thanks to everyone who supported Volunteers' Week, which celebrated its 40th anniversary last week. Volunteering is an important part of working at GC, and I’m proud of our Volunteer2day policy – which allows us to take up to two days leave in any one-year rolling period to volunteer.
For many colleagues, volunteering might be something you heard about when you first joined GC, or you’ve listened to colleagues talking about it after they’ve taken part in some volunteering or heard them talk about supporting a local cause that’s important to them.
If you’ve not got around to volunteering yet, I’d encourage everyone to volunteer at some point during each year, and truly make the most of the benefit it provides to those you’re supporting, and also to you as an individual.
Maximising our Social impact
To fully get our heads around the truly amazing social impact from volunteering, we first need to understand our core mission as a 'profit for purpose' organisation – in prioritising how we address social issues over commercial gain.
By integrating volunteering into GC’s day-to-day activities, and empowering our colleagues to take time outside of their day job and make a difference, we’re able to amplify our ability to support individuals and the communities and those that need a helping hand.
With our large colleague-base, we can mobilise a substantial number of volunteers, enabling us to reach a broader section of the population. It’s even more impactful when colleagues pull-together and volunteer as a team – as did our GM Business Growth Hub Manufacturing team, who recently volunteered at the Lalley Centre in Crumpsall.
GM Business Growth Hub Manufacturing team volunteering at the Lalley Centre in Crumpsall
As GC colleagues, we have the platform to make a tangible difference to people's lives. Whether it's providing additional physical resource to frontline services, or offering career training and guidance like Fern Goddard, Head of Sales, and Margaret Bartnikiewicz, Recruitment Manager, who volunteered at a careers fair talking to year 7, 8 and 9 about working in the hospitality sector, or supporting marginalised communities, as did a group of colleagues who volunteered at Sackville Gardens with Manchester Pride, a crucial space for our LGBTQ+ community.
Recovery Works supports families and children during the festive season
Fern Goddard and Margaret Bartnikiewicz volunteering at a careers fair
Colleagues volunteering at Sackville Gardens with Manchester Pride
Empowering individuals and communities
The impact to society from volunteering can reach beyond immediate assistance, and it can often play a crucial role in empowering individuals and communities.
By volunteering your time, skills and support, opportunities are created for skill development, capacity building, and self-sufficiency. For instance, volunteers may teach essential life skills, mentor disadvantaged individuals, or support people to enhance employability, as Kifle Gebregzabiher, Employment Advisor, Refugee Employability Programme in GC Employment does, when he alongside his day job, devotes four hours per week of his time to volunteering with the Eritrean community in Leeds. By doing activities like these, we help to equip individuals with the tools they need to improve their lives, and in some cases, break the cycle of poverty.
When colleagues actively engage in volunteering activities together, they can strengthen their bond as a team, with a shared commitment to making a difference – our Green Economy team volunteered at The Firs Botanical Gardens at The University of Manchester. This camaraderie extends beyond the workplace, creating a ripple effect that inspires others to get involved and contributes to the overall social fabric of the community. Not only that, it can help you with your own sense of self, positively affecting your wellbeing and health.
Green Economy team volunteering at The Firs Botanical Gardens at The University of Manchester
The impact of sharing your stories and experiences
By sharing our experiences and insights from volunteering, we can challenge preconceptions about society and contribute to broader conversations about the root causes of social problems.
I think this is an often-overlooked part of volunteering. When our colleagues gain a level of first-hand understanding of the issues faced by communities, with this knowledge they can become advocates for policy reforms that address the underlying causes of social problems.
By leveraging our collective voice, and increasingly becoming a socially conscious workforce, we can influence decision-makers and drive change at a more extensive scale, driving sustainable social impact.
Thanks for reading. I hope that I’ve helped you to better understand the true impact of volunteering – and inspired you to kick-start your own volunteering journey. It can be such an impactful and rewarding experience that reaches beyond immediate assistance.
To find out more, please visit our Volunteer2day page on Our Working Way which provides details on how to volunteer, alongside some upcoming volunteering opportunities to take part in.
*Recovery Works is a charity and part of GC, which operates in partnership with Change Grow Live to support people with their substance misuse.