10 February 2015

There are many buzzwords floating around. In 2014 one of those was the term ‘corporate volunteer’ but it seems there are still a lot of people that have not heard about it.

Corporate volunteering is when a business of any size allows their staff to have a day or more per year to volunteer during normal working hours but still pays their salary. It allows staff to get involved in community based activities.

Costain Group proudly supports its staff through the Costain Voluntary Policy which forms part of our social commitment as the way we do business and underpins our Costain Cares strategy. At Costain we offer our staff up to two days a year to support social causes that are dear to them and these often include volunteering in the local community. How our staff use their voluntary days ranges across the Group and not only differs by person but also by project. I know of colleagues, for example, who use their voluntary days as Governors of schools and on the other side of the spectrum I have seen many examples of projects that organise a community initiative and essentially empty a project site and office to support the chosen initiative. This difference across the business is fantastic, allowing us to support a wide range of community groups but also to learn from one another for the following years.

It was recently announced that Whitehaven is to host TEDxWhitehaven. The event is being organised by me and my mother. TEDx is a program of local, self-organised events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. If you’ve never heard of TED talks then I would strongly suggest you log onto TED.com and check out some of the videos. The platform is a brilliant way to share ideas.

I’m using my volunteer days this year to support TEDxWhitehaven.

Does your company support corporate volunteering for staff? And if so, what do you do with your volunteer days? Or if you are part of a community organisation have you ever been supported by corporate volunteering? Add your comments below and please feel free to share the post through Twitter, Facebook and other social networks.

If you would like to learn more about TEDxWhitehaven then please visit the website: www.TEDxWhitehaven.co.uk and follow us on Twitter - @TEDxWhitehaven.