Win-Win Volunteering for The Bradfield Club - Bradfield for Life

Current Parent, Christa Simpson-Wong, HR Director for Financial Services company, Mount Street, shares her experience of organising meaningful and effective team-building opportunities at The Bradfield Club in Peckham in 2024 and the mutual benefit of ‘Corporate Social Responsibility’.

Christa first learned of The Bradfield Club from skimming through a copy of The Bradfieldian that she had received when still a prospective parent. The article, ‘The Bradfield Club: A Safe Haven for Peckham youngsters’, immediately grabbed her attention and resonated with her on several levels. Her heart recognised the challenge of growing up in a tough neighbourhood and wanted to do something for the kids whilst her head saw a brilliant opportunity for cost-effective team-building.

‘Personally I've seen the benefit of volunteering, it’s a great way to give back to the community with the added bonus of also being a team-building opportunity at the same time’

She emailed the Bradfield Club sharing her idea and Club Manager, Daniel Campbell responded immediately; the initiative was born.

The jobs list included;

Clearing rooms that had become filled with junk and repainting of internal spaces
Clearing a garden area that had become overrun with rubbish and weeds, allowing the kids to make best use of their outside space

It was the first time that the Club had ever embarked on something like this so Christa and Dan worked hand in hand to make sure that they had ticked all the boxes; health and safety, safe-guarding and an insurance liability declaration form, in the event of well-intentioned deeds not going according to plan…

The Club doesn’t have a large supply of DIY materials, but, identifying what was missing on their first day, volunteers were happy either to bring in materials from home or source whatever they needed for the tasks they had been given.

If you don’t ask, you don’t get, so Christa approached the local Brewers and asked if they would donate some paint for the walls and woodwork and they obliged.

Some people had never picked up a paintbrush in their life ‘and it showed’ Christa says with a wry smile but Dan was very generous with his praise.

‘Ultimately, the volunteers did a great job. The areas covered by the projects looked much better afterward than before and there was a real ‘feel-good factor’ around everyone's efforts. It was great to have the Mount Street team around’
Daniel Campbell, Manager of The Bradfield Club

Christa planned the volunteering initiative to aid team cohesion in the widest possible sense. She saw that even in her relatively small institution siloed working meant that people didn’t always know each other. Christa deliberately built volunteer groups from people who worked in opposite corners of the building, and the result was better than she could have imagined.

‘I know how spending a couple of days with someone who previously you just might know to say hello can break barriers down and pave the way to a more cohesive organisation’

It took the garden team a week to clear the outside space. The CEO was on this team and Christa received feedback that he really ‘dug in’, forgive the pun. Even though he is good at being visible in the office and visiting people at their desks, the team enjoyed the opportunity to properly get to know him. Of the CEO, they said that he worked harder than anyone else, something the team respected and he loved the experience of being ‘on the ground’.

The venture was a real success from Mount Street’s perspective;

‘Everybody who spoke to me said that they had a great time and asked if they could do it again next year, including the CEO’

The volunteer work also provided many benefits to the Club. Serendipitously Dan received a call from a group that supports children with learning disabilities interested in hiring an outside learning space. Due to the work of the volunteers, Dan was able to rent the newly cleared garden to them, great for those children and also a great revenue generator for The Bradfield Club.

‘The timing of the initiative was perfect, we would not have been able to rent the space without the work of the Mount Street volunteers’
Daniel Campbell, Manager of The Bradfield Club

The DIY jobs also provided a level of interaction with the Bradfield Club attendees and insight initiatives were born. Their Information Security Officer has subsequently visited The Club separately to do a pitch on social media safety and how to be aware of scams.

Christa also recognises that financial services is such a massive employer in the UK, yet some kids might immediately disregard it as an option because of their background. The Mount Street team were keen to break down those perceived barriers.

‘I don’t like stereotyping. Some people could say that I come from a tough, disadvantaged area, but I don’t see it that way. It’s about knowledge and how you decide to deal with the hand that you are given.’

So, Mount Street has offered the opportunity of work experience to a member of The Bradfield Club who declared an interest in financial services. It’s not however going to be handed to them on a plate. They have been given homework and if they can answer some test questions then the work experience is theirs to be undertaken in the first half of the year.

Christa is a straight-talker ‘If a company is committed to supporting the community, it must back its words with tangible actions. Policies and promises are only meaningful when they are consistently implemented.’

The Mount Street – Bradfield Club 2024 volunteering initiative was a real success for both parties and although set-up as a one-off endeavour, they identified that there’s plenty of potential to do more – both from the perspective of the club and the volunteer organisation.

If you are also interested in volunteering for The Bradfield Club do contact the Club Manager, Dan Campbell on daniel.campbell@thebradfieldclub.org.uk

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