A group of staff from Lookers Head Office spent a day volunteering in their local community as part of the Lookers in the Community scheme which was launched on the back of the enormous amount of charity work that Lookers staff have done over the last few years. Lookers hope that they can encourage their staff to take part in voluntary work in their local communities as a way of giving back. It is hoped the scheme will also help boost staff morale and engagement as well as strengthening ties with the local community.
The team led by Lookers Commercial Director Paul Bentley were contacted by Trafford Housing Trust to help them tidy up one of their allotments. Last week the team headed down to the local Broadheath community allotments in Altrincham, Manchester to prepare them for the winter months. The team from Head Office included Craig Forsyth, Paul Bentley, Darryl Jones, Jon Sadler, Gary Lancaster, Craig Sturgeon, Peter Ferris, Peter Garratt, Michael Armstrong and Jake Hulme from SEAT Stockport.
Paul Bentley said of his day of gardening: “When we arrived we were a little taken back with the amount of work that needed done. The allotments we worked on were totally overgrown and they had unfortunately got into this state due to poor health of the residents. Once we got started though we made good progress, it was extremely hard but I believe we all got a lot of personal satisfaction from getting involved. I want to say thank you to the team that turned up as they could have quite easily been put off such was the size of the task ahead, but instead they all got down to work and also had some fun in the process. I confidently believe that through their efforts they have really helped make a difference to the plot holders and we all hope that our work done clearing them will mean that they can now manage their allotments much more easily".
Training Administrator Craig Forsyth said of his day volunteering in the community: "It was a brilliant day. The task seemed huge at first but with us all working together we managed to achieve something really great!"
The team enjoyed the day so much that they have already began planning their next day of volunteering, and want to encourage more staff to get involved in the scheme. As part of the scheme any member of staff can apply for 1 day’s paid leave to take part in a volunteering or charity activity in their local community. For more information on the Community scheme please contact Lookers Group Communication Specialist Rebecca Sansome (RebeccaSansome@lookers.co.uk).
