Businesses across Bath and North East Somerset have signed up to take part in the area’s annual summer volunteering scheme.
Employees have pledged to devote time to help out in the community with a wide range of activities ranging from painting, gardening and reading to packing water survival boxes. 
The annual community challenges are organised in partnership with the Community Volunteer Service and Bath & North East Somerset Council (B&NES) and will take place between Monday June 3 and Friday August 9.
Last year 173 people across Bath and North East Somerset took part, including 115 members of staff from B&NES Council together with employees from the University of Bath Students Union, Bath Spa University, EE, Wessex Water and the Volunteer Service Virgin Care. Collectively they carried out more than 950 hours of voluntary work across eighteen projects.
The challenges enable employees to volunteer to take part in an activity either individually or as a team and to learn more about the local community.
This year’s challenges involve a variety of activities from painting rooms at Southdown Methodist Church to helping to run a fishing competition for the Leonard Cheshire Foundation or sprucing up the garden at Keynsham Children’s Centre.
B&NES lead organiser Sara Dixon said: “There are lots of volunteering opportunities to pick and they don’t just benefit the organisations which need support but they are also great for the person volunteering and for team building.”
Community Volunteer Service manager Mike Plows added: “Volunteering is also good for business. Last year’s participants said it helped with team building as well as improving the morale and wellbeing of staff. The NHS has highlighted the benefits of volunteering stating that it brings many health benefits including improved quality of life, improved ability to cope with ill health and improved self-esteem.”
More than 21m people volunteer in the UK at least once a year. They make a huge difference to people, communities and society in general and contribute an estimated £24bn to the UK economy.
