Employee volunteering days: good for business, great for the cause

Does your company offer volunteering days? If the answer is yes, then according to an Employee Benefits survey, your employer is in the 75% that do. If the answer is no, then they are missing a vital part of employee engagement.

The Team offers us at least one volunteering/charity day a year, and last year I decided to take that day and make it into something that would keep giving back.

For context, my volunteering journey was born from a personal experience.

In the Summer of 2015, my mum, Angela, passed away. She had cancer, and then went into remission for a few years, but the disease came back in 2013, and we were told she had maybe 2 years left. When she passed, I felt like a huge part of me had gone with her. And it wasn’t coming back any time soon, especially when, less than 4 years later, my dad, Nick, passed away too. Did he die of a broken heart? Probably. I know my heart hasn’t been the same since.

I felt so alone for a very long time, even with some fantastic support around me. The fact is, grief is lonely, and it isn’t unusual to feel isolated from those around you. People suggested finding a group, but at that time, the idea of talking to strangers about the worst experience of my life was too much to comprehend.

In 2023, I was seeing a bereavement counsellor who suggested that I join a grief group as part of my therapy. That was when I discovered The New Normal. They held peer support groups online and an in-person group in London that I could join, so I signed up.

The group was a revelation.

The host was Benjamin May, who, along with co-founder Jack Baxter, started the groups in 2018 so that people could come together in a safe space with others who not only acknowledged but understood the nuances of grief. Today, The New Normal is a global charity facilitated, for the most part, by volunteers.

I began my volunteer training with the charity in the summer of 2024, just a few months after attending my first Good Grief in-person meeting. This was something I felt strongly about. It’s such a worthwhile way to channel my pain into something that could help others in the same position. And the training is free! It really was a no-brainer. How could I not?

The training was split into one hourly session a week over 8 weeks, and with the support of The Team, this was how I chose to use my volunteering day. From this one volunteering day, spread into weekly sessions, I became a fully trained host in waiting. And after completing the 6 sessions shadowing hosts, I started hosting peer-to-peer support groups both online and in-person.

I regularly volunteer my own time for the charity by hosting at least one session on most weeks, and I love doing so.

But if the Team was an organisation who hadn’t offered a volunteering day, I might not be doing this today.

This is why it’s such an important benefit to offer in the workspace. The 25% of employers that aren’t doing so are missing a huge opportunity to engage their employees.

There are so many charities or individuals that need support, and just this small amount of time can help so many, even if it’s a few hours of one day spent volunteering for your local community.

And my journey shows that you don’t need to spend just one day out, but can ultimately use the time offered to grow this into something much bigger. Not only does it support your organisation’s ESG policy, which is becoming increasingly important, but it also helps your personal growth and ultimately adds more skills to an employee’s repertoire. A win-win for everyone.

I have gained an invaluable experience through my role as a volunteer.

It’s helping me manage my own feelings of bereavement, but it's also an amazing feeling to spend an hour or so talking to people who might otherwise have nobody else to share their thoughts or feelings with. And if helping others isn’t for you, then thanks for reading and enjoy your day. But if it is, then explore the opportunities you have around you. You might just be able to take your volunteering day and make it into something special. Just like I did.