Why volunteering is so important to us at Amber

At Amber, supporting the community around us is a huge priority, and is highlighted as one of our promises since becoming a B Corp. Therefore, as part of our commitment to community engagement we have recently unveiled our Employee Volunteering Policy. The new policy is intended to encourage our staff to get involved in supporting a wide range of local, national, and international community organisations. This is where having our team based all around the country can pay off, as it means we can pull together throughout the UK to support a huge range of projects and impact as big of a surface area as possible.

As a B Corp, our responsibility to the environment and society is paramount to us. Therefore, we ask our staff to try and centre their volunteering opportunities around organisations that align with these values.

The policy was introduced in March this year, and so far our amazing team have given up 270 hours of their time to help some great causes, and this is only the beginning. As part of Volunteering Week 2023, we have organised two volunteering mornings for our team to get involved in. These are sessions in which we will head down to Bute Park to support our local green spaces, and help to give it a facelift just in time for summer.

Our Learning and Development Partner, Ben Merrills, kindly shared with us his experience with volunteering and why it’s so important to him. He explained:

“There are a few ways in which I choose to volunteer. Some require more of my time than others, but they all ask different things of me, and are rewarding in so many ways.

“Firstly, I’m Scout Leader for a group in the village I live in. This role involves running the Scout Troop, as well as supporting the leaders of the Cub Pack and Beaver Colony.

“ I also volunteer for Hazel Hill Trust, a wonderful 70-acre ancient woodland, managed by a small team who utilise it as a Conservation, Education and Retreat Centre.

“Last, but certainly not least, I support second year university students, and also currently act as a mentor to a professional starting out in their Learning & Development career.

“There are so many ways in which you can give back. It doesn’t have to be a day; it could be an hour. If you have a local charity, school, organisation near to you, go in and ask. I’m sure they would be glad of your help.”

We’ll be posting more updates on our volunteering activities throughout the month so stay tuned for more exciting updates.