News

Grants Team volunteering day 2009

A beautiful, autumnal day greeted the members of the Trust's grants team when they arrived at Bexley Hall for their annual staff volunteering day. The City of London Corporation encourages its employees to participate in volunteering activities and so, once again, the intrepid team members left the comfort of their Guildhall office, rolled up their sleeves and willingly got their hands dirty.

Bexley Hall is set in magnificent grounds which have a river running through them. We awarded Bexley Heritage Trust a grant of £91,750 in 2006 to help make the wonderful Tudor Hall fully accessible to disabled people and so this provided a golden opportunity for all the team to learn more about the work funded.

The gardens are very well looked after, but the team spent the day clearing an area to leave a much improved vista across the grounds and over the river. Although the work was unskilled, the team really made a difference and it was gratifying to see the effect of a day's hard labour.

At the end of a long day Chief Grants Officer, Clare Thomas, remarked, 'The benefits were personal to individuals who felt they had a chance to take initiative and demonstrate leadership skills. As a team bonding exercise it was excellent and provided a great opportunity to 'put something back' into the sector!'