Giving back to our communities - Volunteering Week

Our RPS Energy team took part in Volunteering Week this year from 22nd – 26th April. This is our third year running the Volunteering Week initiative, with an overwhelming response from our team.

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We started this initiative after an “employee pulse” survey in 2021. Our colleagues said they wanted to be more involved in giving back to their local communities, so we listened to their feedback and created our volunteering week. Every year, our teams can get together or do something on their own to give back to their local areas in whatever way feels right for them.

Where have we been during Volunteering Week 2024?

Some of our Edinburgh team did a local beach clean in Silverknowes.? Marine animals worldwide are affected by plastic pollution, so beach clean-ups are vital to mitigate the danger caused by ocean debris and plastic pollution. 13 of our colleagues cleaned over 10 bags of rubbish from the beach, mostly including wet wipes which had been flushed down the toilet.

Our team in Woking gathered together to clear up the Brookwood Cemetery. 8 of our colleagues cut back vegetation which was overrunning the path (with instruction and guidance from the greenkeeper!) and removed leaves, bracken and debris from the surface area. The Brookwood team were great – they’d also organised a historical talk during our lunch break with Kim from the Brookwood Cemetery Society which was fascinating.

Amy Morris , our Head of HR, visited her local river path with her twin boys and filled a bag of rubbish with their help!

Our Chepstow team got together to support Monmouthshire Upcycle. The re-use facility enables people from the local area to donate household appliances or buy them for a fraction of the normal cost. Our team got involved with painting, tidying, power hosing and general maintenance support.

Sally Hartley , our Senior Commercial Contracts Manager, cleaned the lane beyond her local church in Wales and satisfyingly the whole lane is now litter free! Long may it continue.

In Aberdeen, 3 of the team got together to clean their local beach and filled over 5 bags between them, putting the Edinburgh team to shame! (Not that it’s a competition!) It was another gorgeous day, and the team enjoyed getting some much-needed vitamin D.

We have a wide range of technical skills in our team, and our every day job is to support the environment in the energy sector. Volunteering Week was a great opportunity for our teams to use our technical backgrounds in a very different way. I am excited to see what next year holds!

If you'd like to see more about what we do, and our open opportunities - please visit here.