Add some volunteering to your Christmas party for a real reason to celebrate

Organise a day of corporate volunteering on the same day as your Christmas party and you’ll have a real reason to celebrate says TimeBank.

Helen Walker, Chief Executive of volunteering charity TimeBank, says: “Wouldn’t the work party be so much better if you’d got to know people from the office over a shared experience – if you’d spent the day together serving lunch to the homeless, sharing digital skills with the older generation, wrapping gift boxes for children overseas or putting on a party for lonely older people.

That’s where employee volunteering comes in. You still get the celebration in the evening, but the day has been spent putting the goodwill back into Christmas, doing something amazing and making a real impact on your community. TimeBank makes it easy for companies by sourcing the volunteering opportunity, taking care of all the arrangements and making sure everything runs smoothly on the day.”

Last year staff TimeBank worked with a large number of businesses to help them organise Christmas volunteering. Teams spent time with lonely and isolated people, made mince pies, decorations and cards with care home residents, organised parties, worked in food banks and wrapped presents for disadvantaged children. Their time and generosity was much appreciated by the recipients – for many, this was the best Christmas gift they could receive.

If you’d like to do something similar, take a look at http://timebank.org.uk/employee-volunteering/christmas-volunteering or give TimeBank a call on 0203 111 0721

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Notes to editors:

• TimeBank is a national volunteering charity, started in 2000. It recruits and trains volunteers to deliver mentoring projects to tackle complex social problems and also works with businesses to engage their staff in volunteering.

• TimeBank believes that great volunteering can transform the lives of both volunteers and beneficiaries by building stronger, happier and more inclusive communities.

For media information, contact Julia Shipston: julias@timebank.org.uk, tel: 07713163003