The Abbeyfield Society, a charity operating over 400 residential homes for older people nationwide, has partnered with residential development firm Taylor Wimpey, which will see employees at the latter volunteering their time in the former’s homes.
Taylor Wimpey director Charles Waggett was the first to volunteer at Abbeyfield Pratt House, a dementia-friendly care home in Amersham.
Waggett along with his son Sam, got to work in the garden, mowing the lawn, cleaning the paving slabs and making sure that it was ready for the home’s summer events and celebrations.
“It was a pleasure for Sam and I to give a hand sorting out the garden at Pratt House. While we weren’t able to interact personally with the residents, we saw many smiling faces at the windows, so hopefully this cheered everyone up in some way,” he said,
Taylor Wimpey has undertaken a variety of community-focused initiatives to help the NHS and other care homes during the Covid-pandemic.
“As well as raising and contributing money directly, our employees have volunteered their time making and delivering vital PPE. To date, we have procured and delivered 120,000 face masks, 75,000 pairs of gloves and 120,000 aprons to care homes, and manufactured and delivered over 800 reusable face shields,” said Waggett.
“Our employees have also been volunteering their time as NHS responders and delivering medical and food supplies. With St Mungo’s, we have helped to deliver 3,000 food boxes and help set up a distribution hub and have donated laptops to seven hospices through CRASH.”
The Abbeyfield Society said it is keen to involve more Taylor Wimpey employees in their work, and further volunteering opportunities are in the process of being created at Abbeyfield homes in the Bristol and Solihull areas.
Abbeyfield is also on the lookout for other companies and organisations to volunteer and has many rewarding opportunities available. If you would like to offer some of your employees’ time, please contact Abbeyfield volunteering officer Paul Colwill at volunteering@abbeyfield.com.
