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Inland Revenue lend a hand at Lyme Park
The challenge
A team from the Inland Revenue took advantage of their volunteering day and helped plant trees at Manchester’s Lyme Park.
The impact
The team joined forces and really made a difference planting 750 trees. The activity was a great team bonding exercise with one volunteer commenting: 'Although we were told everyone should work at their own pace, the planting soon became very competitive. There was much banter echoing across the moor about who was or wasn’t leaning on their spade instead of putting work in.'
The team gained personal satisfaction from the day and have helped Lyme Park make a real impact to their planting programme. Marcus, Head Warden, commented: 'The team planted over 750 trees which is great; they have also recommended colleagues to come out for the day, enjoying the views, fresh air and hard work. It’s been fantastic.'
Lyme Park has hosted a number of events for Inland Revenue and their impact on the estate has been remarkable.
National Insurance Contributions Office (NICO) get involved at Wallington
The challenge
For many years the National Trust at Wallington, Cambo, near Morpeth, has been holding a free access day for residents of care homes and nursing homes throughout the North East. This has become known as the Wallington Garden Party. A secondee from NICO spent over three months part time organising an event at Wallington gardens. Michele co-ordinated the event and even secured colleagues to help steward and manage everything on the day.
The impact
NICO have been supporting this event for two years.
In 2003, Val Nevin an Inland Revenue NICO was seconded for a period of 20 days over three months to co-ordinate what became a very successful day. Val was helped on the day by 50 colleagues who took on a variety of roles to ensure the day went off without any glitches. In recognition of the positive impact of this work on all the participants, Val and her colleagues were awarded the Business in the Community (BITC) North East Award for best team.
In 2004 Michele Blaire, also of Inland Revenue NICO, helped to organise the event. On this occasion 898 elderly people enjoyed the wonderful garden party, free of charge.
When asked how the experience had helped her, Michele said: 'The project was a new and exciting challenge for me. Working on this project was an excellent opportunity for me to develop my skills in a number of ways. I was able to enhance my organisational, time and management skills. I enjoyed making use of my existing skills in IT, communication and negotiation. I also found my confidence and techniques for being assertive have grown as a result of using these in a different environment.'
Phillippa Raper, Events and Education Co-ordinator at Wallington, said: 'Both Val and Michelle adapted brilliantly! I learned a lot about how they approached the task - with spreadsheets - and how they brought in lots of new ideas, such as hand massage for the elderly visitors. But the clear desk working method sadly did not catch on!'
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