A group of 10 employees from the local council volunteered for a day at a community garden to help with various tasks. James Rogers led the group and they were split into two teams - one for weeding and one for building a chicken hut. Rogers, Becky and Tom built the chicken hut frame successfully but struggled without proper tools. Through teamwork, they were able to complete the large frame and move it into place. The long day of physical labor ended with a sense of accomplishment for contributing to the community.

1. i Volunteer Leeds
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Team works
James Rogers
Community
garden

2. i Volunteer Leeds
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James Rogers
Community
2014
garden
It was a very simple idea –
to formally ‘test out’ how
team volunteering can assist
us in meeting our business
objectives, whilst also
producing some benefit for
a local community. All they
needed was one manager
to volunteer to lead a small
group of about ten staff
for one day. Unfortunately,
despite extensive promotion
of this offer, there was very
little interest; and those who
did come forward all ended
up dropping out because
they were too busy with
work to do volunteering!
“James
Rogers
writes
Ba ck in January, the Leeds Volunteering
Centre, run by Voluntary Action Leeds (VAL),
kindly offered the council some staff time
and expertise to support our employee
volunteering initiatives.

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Beth Logan
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dogs
It isn’t the first example of people being too busy with work to
support volunteering that I have come across. Every so often
I will hear of a case where a manager has refused someone
the special leave that the council provides to employees
to support their volunteering (up to ten paid hours per
employee per year) because the service is too busy. And I get
that, I really do. Every year we are asked to do more and more
with less and less and it has never been more challenging to
deliver the services that our communities need.
James Rogers
Community
garden
Our garden greats are
pictured throughout
this supplement

4. i Volunteer Leeds
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Beth Logan
Homeless
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dogs
However, that is why supporting employee volunteering is important to
our communities, to our employees, and to our business. Every hour that an
employee puts into supporting local communities where they live or work
can help to produce some amazing things:
If every employee
volunteered for just the
ten hours, that would
contribute a staggering
16 years’ worth of
work every year to our
communities.
Many of our colleagues
volunteer far more hours in
excess of that, and in their own
time, so just imagine the overall
contribution.
There is considerable
evidence that
employee volunteering
improves morale,
reduces stress, and
reduces sickness levels.
Anything that contributes
to a happy and healthy
workforce is a good thing.
As budgets contract
we have less and
less resource to put
into team building,
training and similar
things – volunteering
can help us to support
these objectives whilst
costing us little or nothing,
and delivering essential
business support.
James Rogers
Community
garden

5. i Volunteer Leeds
We pulled together a group of ten of us, all with different backgrounds, roles
and skill sets and then started a dialogue about what we actually wanted
to do! To be fair, I left the detail to the team saying that “I was prepared
to do anything” – which was a bit risky for me as I usually like to have a
bit of influence and control! Anyway, there’s so many opportunities for
volunteering I had no idea what the team were going to pick. When I was
first informed that we were going to do a day of volunteering in a community
garden I was relieved (I can at least do gardening!) but a little disappointed
(gardening is not something I would ever choose to do) and a wee bit
apologetic (the flak I got from my wife Dawn was not good – “YOU can do
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a day’s volunteering doing SOMEONE else’s garden but flatly refuse to do
anything in YOUR own garden!”). James Rogers
2014
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Beth Logan
Homeless
Community
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dogs
So, with no takers for the team volunteering opportunity,
and with members of my customers services team eager
to do something, I decided that I would show some leadership
“and take up the offer from the Volunteer Centre.

6. i Volunteer Leeds
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James Rogers
Community
Beth Logan
Homeless
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garden
dogs
Anyway, the day arrived for our day of volunteering and off we headed to
Kirkstall Community Garden – it felt different (and good to be honest!) to
come to work in my scruffs with a packed lunch and a flask of coffee - I hadn’t
done that since my first job as a painter and decorator nearly 30 years ago!
It was a beautiful sunny day
and we were met by our hosts
Paul and Jonathan at Church
Lane Allotments, a relatively
new community led allotment
site with a 100 full size and
half size plots.
After been shown around the site and told about the amazing work done
by volunteers to turn the previously unused land (was many years ago
a mining site/area and therefore now unsuitable for development) into
allotments. We were soon shown the community garden – a full size plot
used for community participation and learning with food being donated to
a local charity to help feed vulnerable people – and whilst the plot was well
developed, it was clear that much more work and further enhancements
were needed.

7. Paul then informed us of our
challenge for the day – one
group would start weeding
and tending to the garden
and another group would do
something a bit more practical
and build something! There
was suddenly a smile on my
face, I wouldn’t be gardening
after all if I had anything to do
with it, so as quick as a flash
I volunteered to be on the
building project, along with
Becky and Tom!
Our task was to build a chicken hut – Paul was keen to have chickens on site
so that local children could experience looking after livestock. Paul had given
a lot of thought to the design of the hut to get value for money, ensure it was
secure and to keep the local foxes out – trouble was the design was all in his
head! With minimal instruction, Becky, Tom and I set to work. James Rogers
i Volunteer Leeds
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Community
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8. i Volunteer Leeds
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We were a little hesitant at first as we tried to work out the design and
structure – there were no drawings or plans, just Paul’s ideas which he had
explained verbally to us.
We soon realised that we didn’t have all the tools for the job – this was a
relatively major job and a hand driven screwdriver would limit our progress
as well as probably blistering our non-laboured hands – so a quick trip to the
hardware store was required to get screwdriver bits for the drill we did have.
We set to work on the outline
frame building the bottom
and top exactly to Paul’s
instructions – the three of
us worked excellently as a
team, sharing the drilling,
hammering, holding and carrying and we soon got into a rhythm and the
base started to take shape. The roof structure soon followed and by 11am
we had got both fully complete. It was now time to join the base and the
roof with the supporting columns and this at first was a major challenge
bearing in mind the supporting columns were some 8ft high. James Rogers
Community
garden

9. soon figured
out a way and
in no time the
outline structure
was complete. c James Rogers
i Volunteer Leeds
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All we had to do now was figure out
how to incorporate a door and build a
supporting structure to make it sturdy –
this is where we started to influence the
design with our own thinking and it was
good that Paul was willing to listen to our
ideas and let us deviate from the original
plan! Also at this point we realised the
battery on our drill was diminishing quick
and with no power on site we were going
to have to revert to manual screwdriving.
A bit of quick thinking and we agreed to
drill all the essential holes needed for the
remainder of the work before the battery
died – continuous drilling meant we broke
three drill bits in very quick succession and
another trip to the hardware store was
required.
Anyway, a pause
for a coffee
provided some
thinking time
and together we
Community
garden

10. 2014 Y We were by now that keen
i Volunteer Leeds
to get as much of the task
completed in the time we had,
that a lack of tools or hardware
was not going to stop us! We
also decided that the structure
was sturdy enough with the
screws used so far that for the
remainder of the structure we
could use nails – a decision I
did come to regret later when
I hit my finger firmly with a driven hammer! At least it was my own fault
rather than Becky’s – there had been a few near misses when I had been
holding the nail and Becky was in control of the hammer earlier in the day!
So back on task and by 2pm we had incorporated a door, built the supporting
structure to make it sturdy and added chicken wire to the bottom so the
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hut could be buried a foot underground (to stop the local foxes tunnelling
underneath!) before it was completed. James Rogers
2014
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Community
garden

11. i Volunteer Leeds
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At this point we realised a fairly significant challenge – we had built the
frame 40 metres from where it actually needed to be located, with two 3ft
fences between us and the intended location.
40 2 3 12 ft
metres fences
height people
Easy you might think, but with the amount of wood used this was no
ordinary chicken hut – it was a monster and it weighed a ton. Now was the
time for real teamwork and everyone else on site was drafted in to move this
super-structure. It took 12 of us to lift it and move it very slowly and very
delicately 40 metres and over two fences – there were a few shaky moments
as some bodies were unable to take the weight, but again with great skill,
team work and quite a bit of perspiration
(caused by both the physical exertion
and the soaring temperature) ...we did it!
James Rogers
Community
garden

12. i Volunteer Leeds
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It was now late afternoon and with a sense of
achievement and knowing Paul had to pick his
daughter up, we called it a day.
Poor diary management meant I had to now
attend a meeting in the Civic Hall – with the
leader of council and my line manager Tom
Riordan, no less. Should I get changed into
my normal work gear (which was never really
going to happen as my work clothes were
20 miles away at home!) or just go into work
in my scruffs? Anyway, in I walked to the
meeting and after letting the leader and Tom
look at me strangely for a while, I explained
what I had been doing!
Recognising themselves the value to local
communities of volunteering, they were very
supportive, understanding and appreciative
of what I and the team had done for the day.
A great example of supportive bosses to our
employee volunteering initiative.
James Rogers
Community
garden

13. i Volunteer Leeds
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When I got back to my office the team asked if I had had a good day –
I summed it up by saying,
Absolutely brilliant, for once not only did we
talk about doing something in the same day
we actually delivered something,
small in the overall scheme of things,
but a massive contribution made to an
important community project.
During the day I asked Paul what motivated him to devote so much of his
time to this and other community based initiatives. His answer was simple
– to provide learning and development opportunities for local people
in the area in things they would otherwise not have the opportunity of
experiencing and to help address social isolation. I am pleased that I was
able to contribute to meeting Paul’s ambitions for his local community and
I look forward to making a return visit soon to see the community chickens
safely housed in their new home! James Rogers
Community
garden

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GARDEN
GREATS
Lee Hemswor th
Laura Batley
Kirsty Heald
Yvonne Maher
Hesta Higgs
Julie Fennell
Tom Benson
Becky Hardy
James Rogers Names appear
in, ahem, no
pecking order
James Rogers
Community
garden