What we did
Designed and facilitated Speirs Finance Group's first team volunteering day, held at Ambury Park Centre on 17 November 2023 through Blue CSR's Volunteer Day Programme, from choosing the community partner and planning the day, to running it on site and following up with a team survey.
The problem
Speirs Finance Group wanted to run their first-ever team volunteering event, something more meaningful than a token day out. The goal: build social cohesion across the team and connect the business's values to real community need, with the day designed and run properly.
Who the business is
Speirs Finance Group is a New Zealand financial services business, trading through its "Yoogoo" brand. This was the team's inaugural volunteering day.
Ambury Park Centre
An equine-therapy and vocational programme in Auckland for people with learning and physical disabilities.
The solution
A full day at Ambury Park Centre, structured so the team understood who they were helping before they started work.
- 1
Centre overview and safety brief
An introduction to the centre, co-led by one of its vocational students, followed by a health-and-safety brief.
- 2
Hands-on work
The team bagged horse manure to fund a student trip, and weeded and prepared the vegetable gardens for new planting.
- 3
Meeting the therapy horses
Time with the horses to understand how the centre's work supports its students.
Outcomes
Delivered on 17 November 2023.
Manure bags packed
Funding a student trip to Rainbow's End.
Gardens cleared and prepped
Ready for the next planting.
Volunteering day
The team's first, now under review to scale.
More connected
Space to reflect on the company's values outside the workplace, and the physical, outdoor work doubled as a wellbeing boost. A follow-up survey is helping Speirs decide on rolling the programme out across the wider team.
Blue CSR: practical ESG and CSR for New Zealand small business. Published with Speirs Finance Group's permission.