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In September, we announced the launch of a new free Employer Supported Volunteering (ESV) toolkit for VCSE groups & organisations across Gloucestershire. We were delighted to find out that members of the Strategy & Transformation Directorate at NHS Gloucestershire ICB recently visited The Grace Network for their Volunteering Away Day and thoroughly enjoyed participating in some ESV.

You can find out more in our Guest Blog, written by Hannah Norman (VCSE Impact Manager in the Healthy Communities and Individuals Team) below...

‘Many hands make light work’

This phrase proved true when members of the Strategy & Transformation Directorate at NHS Gloucestershire ICB visited The Grace Network, Aston Down for their Volunteering Away Day recently.

The Grace Network creates and supports social enterprises which reinvest profits into their local communities through higher pay, community events and distributing away free goods. They believe that together it is possible to model a new way of doing business that not only generates money and resources, but also nurtures health, happiness and community and responds to the needs of the most marginalised.

The 'Gate Crew'

The sun shone as the volunteer team split into groups to help The Grace Network ‘spruce up’ their site, making it a more vibrant working environment. Tasks included tidying the staff garden, painting the office walls to brighten up the space, and clearing brambles in the car park to open up a new gate, providing a safer entrance to the site. This task was undertaken by a group of team members who lovingly become known as ‘Gate Crew’.

The Grace Network provided a delicious lunch of various curry dishes before the work continued in the afternoon, with the additional task of creating a shop with items from Gloucestershire House Clearance, one of the four Community Interest Companies that the Aston Down site is home to.

Reflections from the day

The 'Gate Crew' found that a day of ESV was really enjoyable. They also found that participating in activities like this brought the NHS and community organisations together.

If your organisation or business is interested in finding out more about ESV opportunities in the county, please This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..