We encourage our people to get out and about – volunteering for local charities and good causes
To do this our people have the option to use paid volunteering days. They can take up to two days each year via our ‘time off to volunteer’ policy.
We’d like to share volunteering stories from our three offices across the UK:
Bournemouth Beach Cleans
Summer 2024
Environmental charity, Surfers Against Sewage (SAS) held its Million Mile Clean campaign again this year during the summer months. Our Bournemouth colleagues took part in two beach cleans to support the charity where they helped remove litter to protect our coastline.
Jay, LV= Head of Estates and Environment said:
“I’m immensely proud to support Surfers Against Sewage by organising beach cleans again this year and enable my colleagues to contribute positively to the local environment as well as SAS’s national campaign.”
We believe looking after our environment is fundamental to ensuring a society and economy where all can thrive for generations to come. This forms part of our ‘Safeguarding our environment’ pillar – one of our three sustainability pillars. You can read more about this in our Sustainability Report.
Kingston Lacy in Dorset
June 2024
In June, colleagues from various teams based in Bournemouth came together for a volunteer day at Kingston Lacy.
Working alongside the dedicated and knowledgeable staff from the National Trust, lots of great insight was provided into the area’s ecology and history.
The morning began at Holt Heath, where the group began clearing Scots pine and silver birch to help ensure the heath can maintain a balanced ecosystem due to the invasive nature of these types of trees. Gloves, saws and large secateurs were provided to help the group as they made their way through the vast rural landscape. They even managed to get up close and personal with the heaths grazing cattle.
In the afternoon, the group traveled to a second location, Holtwood Community Farm. The community farm offers a vital day service for adults with mental health issues, autism and other learning difficulties. Spanning 15 acres, the farm is a sanctuary where individuals can engage in meaningful activities in a supportive environment.
The group set off to work planting 250 pumpkin plants and then split into smaller groups to tackle a variety of essential tasks that included constructing sturdy fencing that would soon become a new home for a group of piglets, spreading nutrient-rich muck over two raised beds (contributing to the farm’s sustainable agricultural practices) and pulling onions from the ground and diligently clearing weeds from a sprawling rhubarb plot.
The beautiful surroundings including young piglets, lambs, hens and goats as well as the warm reception from the farm team, made the hard work well worth it.
The whole group had a great day and were honoured to lend a helping hand to this wonderful community resource as well as aiding in the maintenance of a local protected area.
Hospice charities
February 2024
Our collection points enable us to run regular campaigns to support our local communities. So far, colleagues have donated vital supplies to foodbanks and pre-loved items to charity shops.
Before the start of 2024, our collection of pre-loved clothes and toys went to three local hospice charities for their charity shops.
Our Community and Charity team arranged volunteering opportunities with these charities so we could further support Julia’s House in Bournemouth, Hospiscare in Exeter and Garden House Hospice Care in Hitchin. Colleagues who took part were able to make use of our ‘time off to volunteer’ policy.
Julia’s House
Our Bournemouth colleagues spent time with Julia’s House, a children’s hospice in Dorset and Wiltshire dedicated to bringing comfort and care to terminally ill children and their families.
11 colleagues volunteered at the charity’s central warehouse in Creekmoor, Poole on three different dates from November 2023 to February 2024. Before colleagues knew it, they were getting stuck into a range of tasks. Accepting items from drive-up donors, sorting giant bins of children’s clothes and loading lorries with sorted and bagged goods was all on the agenda.
Our volunteer Harry told us that “helping the team accept and process donations was a truly humbling experience – to see such passion and hard work in support of a brilliant cause was a privilege. It was also huge fun!”
Hospiscare
Colleagues from our Exeter office joined the Hospiscare team for a day in one of their four shops in the city. Hospiscare provide essential support to those with terminal illness across Devon.
Our volunteers spent the day on Sidwell Street’s busy Hospiscare shop floor. One of our volunteers Rowan said:
“It was interesting to see behind-the-scenes of how a charity shop works. It was also good to understand the importance of these shops and what they are providing for the community.”
Garden House Hospice Care
Our Hitchin office supported Garden House Hospice Care, a specialist charity serving patients, families, and carers in North Hertfordshire, Stevenage, and towns and villages in Central Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire.
In the run up to Christmas, four colleagues volunteered at their store called Threads on Hitchin’s high street. It was a busy time of year for the charity shop and they were eager to get involved.
Volunteers Abi and Sarah covered the shop floor greeting customers and familiarising themselves with the stock, while Amy and James worked in the stockroom preparing donated clothes to be sold.
We were grateful for the opportunity to help and support these important charities.
Thank you to all of our volunteers.
Brendoncare in Hampshire
December 2023
In December, our Brand and Communications team donned their Santa hats and headed out to deliver some festive cheer to local residents with a sociable quiz morning at The Westbourne pub.
To kick off the festive spirit, our Senior Brand Executive, Samantha, got in touch with Brendoncare to see if we could volunteer.
This brilliant local charity is dedicated to improving the quality of life for older people. Their vision is to transform the culture of ageing, creating a society that is kind and values age. They do this by empowering people to live well through the provision of age-friendly places and services.
On the day, colleagues from our Corporate Communications, Design & UX, Digital and Insight teams teamed up with Brendoncare members in four fun quiz rounds that took our new friends on a trip down memory lane.
With a nail-biting tie breaker, local retired teacher Cliff won the day for his team by making the closest guess for when the first Christmas card was sent in England. We laid on mince pies and refreshments to create a warm and friendly experience for the group and everyone had a lovely time.
The team were delighted to get out and about in the community and Brendoncare Locality Manager Cindy said:
“Thank you so much for your visit to Westbourne. The volunteers and members have asked me to send their thanks to you all at LV= for such an amazing morning – they all really enjoyed it.”
Ad Astra Infant School in Poole
November 2023
In November, our Digital team embarked on a heart-warming mission to support a local infant school by planting a variety of bulbs that will flourish during spring 2024. Armed with shovels, gloves, and an abundance of enthusiasm, the team set out to cultivate a green oasis for the young learners.
The prospect of transforming a patch of land into a vibrant garden for the children ignited a sense of purpose within each of the team – and they couldn’t wait to get started. With guidance from the school staff, they carefully mapped out the area they would be focusing on and got to work. From digging trenches to planting saplings, every action was a step towards fostering a greener, more nurturing environment for the school community.
The volunteering day brought the whole team together. Craig, LV= Digital Content Executive told us that “Laughter and camaraderie echoed throughout the schoolyard – we all really enjoyed our time improving the outside space. As we planted the last of the seeds, we felt really proud of what we had achieved in a day.”
Reflecting on their experience, the team are reminded that the true essence of community lies in the collective efforts of individuals committed to making a difference. That’s why we encourage our colleagues to use their two volunteering days each year to do just that.
Brownsea Island in Dorset
September 2023
At the end of September, colleagues from our Risk Management team volunteered with the National Trust on Brownsea Island. They spent a day helping to establish a wooded heathland habitat that can not only sustain the important red squirrel population, but also provide for rarer UK species of birds (such as the nightjar) and lizards.
Various strategies of forestry management over the years had led to a build-up of large densely wooded areas that required thinning, along with the removal of the nutrient rich topsoil layer, as these created a significant fire risk and also prevented growth of the natural heather.
Following a leisurely boat ride over to the island, the team arrived armed with bow saws, loppers and rakes and set to work on an acre of hill-top woodland, neighbouring the islands natural heathland. Within an hour, the team was feeding a roaring fire and clearing far more pine, rhododendron, leaves and topsoil than anyone would have thought possible – an excellent example of teamwork!
It is expected that within a year, the area will naturally establish a new heather wooded heathland, which will mature over the next 10 years.
The day was a fantastic example of how colleagues connected, got to know each other a little better and support a great cause which is making a big difference for UK countryside and wildlife.
Stephen, Compliance Assurance Officer at LV= summarised the day he organised for the team as a “fantastic day being immersed in nature and connecting with colleagues, existing and new.”
His colleague Sue, LV= Compliance Officer, commented:
“I had a great day volunteering on Brownsea Island, as a team we achieved an amazing amount of ground clearing and burning in just a few hours! It was great to catch up in person with my team. Well done for organising Steve, please can we do it again next year?”
Livability Holton Lee in Poole
May 2023
Colleagues from our protection sales team volunteered at Livability Holton Lee to help with some essential gardening tasks that would benefit the charity’s Wellbeing Discovery Centre.
Livability Holton Lee is a disability charity that connects people with their communities, tackling social isolation and the barriers this can cause in the lives of disabled and vulnerable people.
The garden area, which provides both sensory and learning opportunities so students can acquire the knowledge and skills needed for growing vegetables, needed to be prepared for accessible vegetable beds. This included removing stones and weeds and levelling the soil.
To help the charity to create fruit tree guilds, the team prepared the ground for planting by digging out the bed that will connect a group of trees. Fruit tree guilds are trees that are planted to attract pollinators and other beneficial insects or plants to replenish nutrients for other plants or to provide ground cover to suppress weeds.
A whole host of other hard work was carried out by the team.
Dani, protection consultant at LV=, told us what the day meant to the team.
“In addition to the hard work provided by the team, the day offered a great opportunity for team building and catching up with colleagues from the protection sales team. The weather was also very kind to us and provided sunshine all day long. Needless to say, there were some very achy bones the following day.”
Archive
Catch up on volunteering stories from 2022
Trussell Trust Foodbank in Bournemouth
December 2022
At the end of 2022, our teams in each of our UK offices donated vital supplies to local foodbanks in time for the festive period. Inspired to go one step further to help a local Trussell Trust foodbank in Bournemouth, our operational resilience team spent a day there volunteering. The team helped sort food parcels that will support the local community.
Our operational resilience director, Steve who took part in the volunteering day shared his thoughts on the experience.
“What astounded us all was the sheer scale of the operation and the generosity of those who donate food to this remarkable charity, including the 150 volunteers that make it work. It was a real education on how much people in our community are relying on this critical support in such challenging times, but also how robust the operation is to ensure that those who most need this lifeline of help are getting it. Really noticeable was how much particular items are in demand such as long life milk, orange juice and toiletries – but all donations are gratefully received. I’d encourage anyone who can spare the time to help their local foodbank.”
Bradninch Cricket Club in Exeter
July 2022
Six volunteers from our Exeter office spent two days sprucing up Bradninch Cricket Club. They were delighted to do this for the benefit of the community and the club's cricket players, which include youth teams ranging from 5 to 15 years old.
Jon, lead business change analyst here at LV= organised the volunteering days at Kensham Club, where Bradninch Cricket Club play their games, and he told us what the team got up to.
“There was a long list of tasks the cricket club asked us to help with – we managed to complete them all and more. It was great to be able to do some great work for the local kids and their families, plus we had some fantastic weather.”
During their two day volunteering, the team transformed the cricket club. They sanded and stained the benches and weeded, swept and tidied the driveway and patio. They pressure washed the floor of the toilets/changing rooms, cleared and tidied up the fire escape route and painted the rear of the club house. And finally, as it was so hot, they watered all the hanging baskets, flowers and plant pots too!
The team had a great time together and the cricket club were so pleased with the end result!
It was such a pleasure to have the team from LV= here and they did an amazing job” – Chris Dean, Bradninch Cricket Club Chairman.
Bournemouth Beach Cleans
Summer 2022
As part of our carbon offsetting initiative, we partnered with environmental charity Surfers Against Sewage to participate in their Million Mile Clean campaign. We organised a series of beach cleans during the summer months for our Bournemouth colleagues to take part in.
A total of seven cleans took place that covered beaches from Sandbanks to Hengistbury Head – that’s over seven miles.
Over 100 of our LV= colleagues took to their local beaches, joined by members of the public too.
Christchurch Infant School
June 2022
Colleagues from our business change department in Bournemouth, split into two teams and spent a day each reinvigorating a local school. They re-built, scrubbed, painted and re-located various outdoor areas and outbuildings for Christchurch Infant School.
Dave, LV= programme manager and organiser of this volunteering told us what the experience was like for the two teams.
“All the team agreed that this was hard work. And at times we thought we had taken on too much! But having a team from the project management office, business analysts and project managers all working together we completed all tasks on-time and within budget, as promised. It was very rewarding and we all had a great time."
They even got a mention in the school’s newsletter which said:
“We are very grateful for the community volunteer work that Liverpool Victoria staff carried out which included the painting of and fixing of sheds, gazebos and bird keeps.”
Hitchin Youth Allotment project
May 2022
Five green-fingered volunteers from our Hitchin office spent the day gardening for the Hitchin Youth Allotment project where children grow fruit and vegetables, learn gardening skills and get involved in a hands-on way.
LV= solution architect Tom, organised the volunteering team day. We talked to him about what they got up to and what the day meant to them all.
“A beautiful sunny morning welcomed the team as we started on the first task of the day, digging out the jungle of weeds that had taken over the fruit tree patch. After a few hours of determined digging and weeding, the site was cleared. Then powered on by the well-deserved BBQ lunch, we put down a protective membrane before finally covering the area in a ton of wood chippings. Now the project can finally utilise the space with the children they support.”
All of the volunteers thoroughly enjoyed giving back to their local community, supporting such a great cause. Being surrounded by nature was good for both their physical and mental wellbeing. Here’s what the rest of the team had to say:
“We had such a wonderful day giving back to the local community! Fresh air, sunshine and a really well run project. This was also a fantastic team building exercise and I would highly recommend my colleagues to come along to the next one!" – Jas, LV= senior project manager.
All of the team are really looking forward to arranging another visit soon to the Hitchin Youth Allotment project.