Volunteering can bring benefits both in terms of social impact and staff development. Staff are entitled to take four days per year to volunteer, which can be used to work with charities or organisations of their choice.
Here's how some of our team have spent their time volunteering:
Debjani from the Member Experience team
I volunteered for the Metropolitan Police, getting involved in a number of crime prevention activities carried out during lockdown.
This included everything from distributing leaflets on cybercrime, engaging with the public on lockdown rules, and searching for weapons and drugs in certain areas based on police intelligence.
In March the Met Police Commissioner asked the general public for help during lockdown. Although regular crime rates had declined, the Met Police cybercrime department reported a 200% increase in cyber and phone scams. Since this was an area I was already interested in, I answered the call. I learnt so much and also started getting involved in weapons sweeping activity. In fact, I even discovered a knife on an assignment.
The reason I got involved was simple – I wanted to help out during the COVID-19 pandemic. Thousands of people were struck down by the virus. Millions more were affected as the situation cost them their livelihoods and businesses. Compared to that I was very lucky, so I felt compelled to give back to society. The opportunity to do something I thoroughly enjoyed and benefit from a unique learning experience was the icing on the cake.
Nest's volunteering days allowed me to offer my time to the Met Police on weekdays which was a very busy period for them during lockdown. This was really beneficial during peak lockdown when I had to travel to different parts of London, some of which were very far away from my home. I was able to cycle there and didn’t have to worry about taking public transport and exposing myself to the risk of infection.
I’m hoping to use more volunteering days as I’m keen to join the Met Police’s Special Volunteer team. If I’m selected, I’ll have to commit to 12 hours of volunteering work every month.