London Team Volunteering: Making a Difference, Together.
Introduction
Volunteering is a rewarding way to give back to your community and help those in need, and doing it as a group with your colleagues can also create a unique team-building opportunity. In this article, we will explore the different kinds of team volunteering opportunities in London, how to organise them, and which organisations need your help in your local community.
You can see some inspiring stories of group volunteering days Matchable has organised here.
What Is Team Volunteering?
Team volunteering is when a group of people volunteer together for a specific cause or project. It can be a one-time event or an ongoing commitment. Team volunteering can help build camaraderie, promote collaboration skills and improve overall morale.
Types of Group Volunteering Opportunities
There are a few different ways that you can give back in your local community through volunteering as a group. Below we've summarised the most common ways in which organisations typically volunteer:
Environmental/Conservation Projects
If your team/company is particularly aligned with environmental or climate causes, then one option would be taking a day out of the office and finding local green spaces across London to help out in.
Perhaps your team could help with litter picking in a protected park, or maybe you can help with biodiversity in a community garden. There are multiple organisations out there looking for corporate conservation volunteers to help their cause. Not only can this kind of group project help with preserving your local nature and wildlife, but can you also often find environmental projects that help to educate young people about protecting the world they live in.
This is one of the team volunteering options that is the easiest to set up and find near you.
Food Banks / Homeless Shelters
Another popular choice among businesses for in-person group volunteering is giving your time to help out at a local food bank, or soup kitchen. These organisations provide vital support across greater London to the vulnerable homeless community, offering hot food and drinks, essential resources, and a safe space to access emotional support. They are also a great option for any companies passionate about tackling food waste.
It's a wonderful way to make a change in your back garden, and for volunteers to get some valuable face-to-face contact with the people they are helping on the day! In the current cost of living crisis, this is a popular choice for brands wanting to do their bit to help these struggling financially in the capital.
Mentoring Programmes
If you're looking for something a bit more skills-based that your team can get involved with, then a mentoring programme might be the perfect option to offer your team.
There are countless organisations doing amazing work supporting vulnerable and/or underprivileged young people across central London with educational and emotional support, and they need your help!
Whether you can commit to a regular 1-2 hours of mentoring a week, or you simply want to arrange a one-off day for your employees to utilise their skills to help mentor young people, this is a volunteer option that creates one of the higher levels of impact in local communities.
This option can be slightly more time intensive, and requires more skill than the traditional manual labour volunteering opportunities, but the reward for your team is equally more substantial. It can provide your staff with a new way to flex their specific skill sets, and also helps them to feel really valued for their work.
Fundraising Events
While organising your own fundraising event is certainly a bigger and more complicated undertaking, there are some advantages. For starters, you have complete control over the date/time, duration, and location of your team volunteering, as well as the cause in which you want to support.
You might have a particular cause in mind that your business really aligns with, or perhaps you have an existing relationship already with a charity in your area that you want to collaborate with.
Group Remote Volunteering
Remote/virtual volunteering is a newer concept that is becoming the most popular choice for companies wanting to create the maximum impact, while also providing as much flexibility to their team in regards to how they choose to give back and do good.
One aspect to in-person business volunteering that HR or People leaders often overlook is the exclusion of any team members that are less physically able to get out and about of the office or their home. Not to mention the difficulty of organising larger groups of staff who all live in different locations or even different countries.
With the rise in remote/hybrid working teams, and international teams, the ability to create serious positive impact, while at the same time up-skilling your team is best facilitated by remote, skills-based volunteering like that available on the Matchable platform.
The possibilities with online corporate volunteering are truly endless! Maybe one of your sales executives wants to advise a domestic violence charity on their new sales strategy, giving them a chance to create a strategy for the first time in their career.
Or, maybe your marketing team would really value the chance in pace that a website design project for a diversity non-profit would provide!
These days, you can even do group volunteering projects online with a wider team.
How to Organise Team Volunteering In Your Local Community
Organising team volunteering is easier than you may think. Here are some steps to follow:
Choose a cause or project that aligns with your team's interests or values.
Research organisations or charities in London that need volunteers (Or find a dedicated corporate volunteering partner like Matchable to take the sourcing, organisation, and impact tracking off of your plate).
Contact the organisation(s) to discuss opportunities and availability.
Set a date and time for the volunteering event.
Plan logistics like transportation, meals, and necessary equipment.
Assign roles and responsibilities to team members.
Have fun and make a difference!
🔥 Hot Take 🔥: You shouldn't expect volunteering to be free...Here's why.
Organisations In London that Need Your Help
There are 1000's of charities, non-profits, or for-profit social enterprises/impact start-ups in central London and the wider city that rely on volunteers to stay operating. Here are just a few we wanted to shout out:
Crisis - a charity for the homeless that provides shelter, support, and education.
Age UK - an organisation that helps older adults live independently and with dignity.
London Wildlife Trust - a group that works to conserve wildlife and natural habitats in the city.
FareShare - a charity that redistributes surplus food to those in need.
The Trussell Trust - a network of food banks that provides emergency food and support to people in crisis.
If you're looking for more innovative and exciting smaller organisations that are still contributing to the UN's Sustainable Development Goals and providing your team with a range of new skills, then you might want to engage a dedicated corporate volunteering partner to connect people with the right opportunity for them, on their schedule.
Conclusion
Overall, team volunteering is a powerful way to make a positive impact in your community across London while also building relationships and improving teamwork skills in a unique way. With so many charities in London that need volunteers, there are a wide range of opportunities to get involved with, and numerous ways for employees to give back in or outside the office.