On Friday 18th May a team of 20 Lexy staff volunteered their time and donned their trainers and sports kit to take part in this year’s Community Games as part of Business in the Community’s nationwide Give & Gain Day 2012
(www.bitc.org.uk/community/employee_volunteering/give_gain_day).
This was Lexington’s second time taking part in the games which gets bigger, better and louder every year! Held at the Little Venice Sports Centre in Maida Vale, the day of games and sports had the Lexington team working up a sweat through sports coaching, team leading, mentoring, scoring and organising throughout the day to over 160 local primary school children from three schools; Edward Wilson Primary School, Gateway Primary School and Hampden Gurney Church of England.
The Community Games, in partnership with Sports Inspired (www.sportsinspired.co.uk), aims to get kids excited and having fun through sports and exercise by introducing them to a wide variety of team games and activities on the day such as volleyball, dodgeball and street dance – all featured sports are available in their local area.
Give and Gain Day is the UK’s only national day of employee volunteering run by business charity Business in the Community. The campaign gives employees a unique opportunity to make a difference to the communities they live and work in. Working in 16 teams, Lexington’s volunteers contributed their skills, talent and experience to support the 8 to 10 year olds throughout the sports day. The teams were encouraged to take part in each sport with particular emphasis on leadership, communication and working as a team. At the end of the day teams were awarded with medals for taking part and a trophy was presented for the highest scoring team and the team who showed the best “team spirit”. In a recent consultation with its membership Business in the Community identified employee volunteering as one of the key ways that businesses can develop meaningful, sustainable relationships with communities.
Give & Gain Day demonstrates the power of employee volunteering and is an excellent way of introducing businesses to the impact they can have in local communities and the benefits it can bring to their business.
Commenting on the day, Lexington’s Team Leader Russ Scanlon, Sales & Marketing Director, who undertook the Assistant Event Director role for the day, said “This is the second year we have provided a team for Give & Gain Day and I must say not only does our team grow each year but so does the enthusiasm and fulfilment of the guys who are involved. We find that volunteering is a really great experience and allows the team to use all of their man management skills to inspire, mentor and support the children through a number of challenges.
In our 10th year Give & Gain has now made a valuable contribution to our LexingTEN CSR initiatives for the year and the entire team thoroughly enjoyed the day – even though the eardrums are still ringing!
” Commenting on the campaign, Gennie Franklin, Programmes and Employee Volunteering Director at Business in the Community said: “We’re pleased that Lexington Catering joined our global movement of employee volunteers this year. Volunteering is one way in which businesses can start to build real relationships and help to transform the communities they live and work. The companies that took part in Give & Gain Day 2012 should be proud of their involvement, as their activities will make a real lasting difference on the lives of those people with the greatest need. Staff benefit too as it’s a valuable way to have fun, learn and develop new skills.”
