Volunteers’ Week ran 1-7 June and is an annual event that has completed its 38th year. The annual event is a chance to recognize the contribution volunteers make and to say thank you to everyone involved.
Here at Penna, not only do we provide all our employees with a Volunteering Day every year, but we also encourage additional volunteering schemes.
During Volunteers’ Week, Penna was recognized with a Certificate of Appreciation by Essex Police in recognition of our continued support to The Special Constabulary through The Employer Supported Policing Scheme (ESP) Through the scheme, employees are released from their usual day job to volunteer as a front-line Police Constable with full policing powers, keeping their local community safe. Our very own Head of Digital takes part in the scheme and attended the ceremony at Essex Police Headquarters during Volunteers’ Week to accept the certificate. He said “Penna has been part of the ESP scheme for almost 4 years. Having the option to volunteer once a month is fantastic and being a recognized Police Officer is very different from my day job – I get the opportunity to experience situations I would never normally face and develop skills that I can bring back to Penna”.
When asked what motivates him to volunteer, he said “Helping people comes naturally to me and there is no better way to do that than volunteering. Volunteering has allowed me to be involved in a role that I always wanted to do but for various reasons was not able to as a full-time career choice. By volunteering with an emergency service, I know that whenever I am on duty, I am making a real difference to people's lives – there is no better feeling”
You can read more about Volunteers’ Week to see why volunteering is important and how you can get involved.