One week, 22 children, and a reminder of what matters
Biology teacher Lauren McKechnie has volunteered with the Newman Holiday Trust for 13 years. Every July, she helps organise and run a free, week-long residential holiday for children with additional and complex needs - 22 children aged between 4 and 18, many of whom have never had a holiday like it. Their parents and carers get a week of respite. The children get an experience they’ll never forgot.
Lauren gets so much out of the experience, but it is a significant time commitment, and until a colleague mentioned the Employee Volunteering Policy in passing, Lauren had no idea she could use the policy to help cover some of her time off.
So, for the three years Lauren was seconded to the Connected Falkirk team, she took advantage of the policy. The process was straight forward - she submitted a request through MyView, her manager approved it, and one of her five days away was covered as volunteering leave rather than annual leave.
The policy didn't change what Lauren was doing - she'd have gone either way. But it meant one less day taken from her annual leave, and a formal acknowledgement that what she was doing was worth supporting.
She said:
Volunteering with this charity always makes me come back to work - and life - feeling like I’ve made a massive difference and done something brilliant with my time. It’s not just a life-changing week for the children and families, it is to the volunteers as well. They are the kindest and most generous people you could ever meet. Getting to spend a week with them is an absolute joy and lets me come back to my day-job reinvigorated knowing there are such incredible people in the world who want to make a difference.
The Newman Holiday Trust is entirely volunteer run. No one is paid. Everything is fundraised. If you've ever wanted to give a day to something that genuinely needs it, Lauren's advice is simple: even if it's just the one day, all small charities would be glad of the help.
She said:
I’d encourage others to use the Employee Volunteering Policy 1000%. You’ll get to give back and help others whilst getting lots out of it yourself - new friends, opportunities, skills and often a renewed perspective on life and what’s important.