At Purchase Direct we recognise the importance of giving our employees the opportunity to engage in meaningful activities outside of their usual roles.
As well as giving people the opportunity to support charities of their choice throughout the year, a number of Purchase Direct employees recently joined up in volunteering groups to support local charities Church Farm and St Albans & District Foodbank.
Church Farm in Ardeley is a community interest, not-for-profit social enterprise with rural care and education programmes at the heart of everything they do. They provide training and work experience for people with learning disabilities and/or mental health issues, where their ‘Co-farmers’ work with experienced staff in small mixed ability teams in a variety of jobs to suit individual interests, needs and abilities, contributing to the upkeep and maintenance of the farm. A group of three teams from Purchase Direct had an enjoyable and fulfilling day helping with various jobs on the farm, including picking apples in the orchard, carrying out tree maintenance, building a shed for the guinea pigs and helping with the upkeep of the vegetable garden.
St Albans & District Foodbank provides nutritionally balanced emergency food and support to local people who are referred to them in crisis. As part of a nationwide network of foodbanks, they work hard to combat poverty and hunger in the local area. Our team of volunteers ran a food collection at our office in advance of their day at the foodbank, where they sorted through the donations from Purchase Direct staff and helped the foodbank by sorting and packing food parcels. The experience was rewarding and has also motivated all of the volunteers to do more to support the foodbank in the future.
Managing Director Anthony Landau said, “Allowing time off for volunteering activities reflects Purchase Direct’s commitment to both social responsibility and our employees’ well-being. All our employees that took part really enjoyed their activities and contributing to helping others, and we’re looking forward to supporting more worthwhile charities in the future through our voluntary leave programme.”