University College Plymouth St Mark & St John

UCP Marjon has been engaging in local staff volunteering opportunities since 2005 with the help of Business in the Community through Plymouth Cares Challenges.

It is important for staff to recognise the importance of the Cares project and therefore UCP Marjon puts emphasis on employees benefiting from:

• a simple and fun way of engaging and giving something back to our local community
• development of new skills
• team building
• alternative leadership opportunities
• opportunities to work alongside other local businesses who are active members of Cares

UCP Marjon have been particularly proactive and have completed a number of projects since taking up membership.On reflection, individuals have found the days to be extremely rewarding with regards to community engagement and it has brought teams together allowing individuals to work together without the pressures of the workplace.

Below are some past examples of projects undertaken through Plymouth Cares.

Butterflies, Bracken and Bob

The sun shone on the Marjon’s Student Support team as they ventured forth with bracken beaters and butterfly nets on their Business in the Community’s Cares Challenge day on July the 19^th. The Devon Wildlife Trust welcomed several staff from Student Support as they volunteered to assist the Trust in their quest of working to make ‘Devon a living landscape in which wildlife on land and sea is varied plentiful and widespread’. (DWT, 2010). The challenge for the day was butterfly management.                                                     Blackadon Nature Reserve, near Ashburton in South Devon, was the glorious setting for the challenge which involved beating bracken, using quadrants and spotting butterflies, most specifically the pearl bordered and rare high brown fritillary. The highlight of the day had to be the sight of the the Academic Advice Co-ordinator, Bob Keys, normally hidden behind a stack of extenuating circumstances forms, skipping with gay abandon through the bracken in pursuit of elusive butterflies.

It was a fantastic opportunity for the team to get out from behind their desks and work together in an unfamiliar environment on such a worthwhile project.  

“Volunteering  opportunities on days like this are great for team building” said Alison Spencer the accommodation officer.”It makes a real change from checking hall of resident’s inventories!”

HR Team Volunteer for National Give & Gain Day

UCP Marjon’s HR team volunteered their time to support the SW regions Give and Gain Day. Give & Gain Day is the UK's largest day of action for employee volunteers. Plymouth’s contribution was to give Longreach rehabilitation centre garden a complete make over.                                                    Longreach is an innovative and dynamic registered charity, offering treatment and support services for women whose lives have been adversely affected by alcohol or drugs. Part of the rehabilitation process for the clients is centered around the garden and it’s spacious grounds. Much of the space needed clearing and made usable to its residents therefore our HR team worked towards revamping the ‘secret garden’ by clearing and planting colourful plants and making a seating area out of reclaimed slate.

The team had a thoroughly enjoyable day with lots of hard work but with a very rewarding outcome.

UCP Marjon Supports Dame Hannah Rodgers Trust
On Friday 16th November UCP Marjon entered a team into the annual Cares Cup charity five-a-side football tournament along with 15 other local businesses. The day was a great success, raising over £300 for Dame Hannah Rogers Trust, a leading special school for young people with physical disabilities aged 5-16.
Special thanks must go to our team of staff and two international students who played in the tournament and for their enthusiasm on the day.

Supporting Marine Life instead of Students

Student Support staff from UCP Marjon have been volunteering with the Marine Conservation Society at Batten Bay in Plymouth, through Business in the Community, Cares. UCP Marjon staff took part in a beach clean where all rubbish is recorded and monitored through the Marine Conservation Society.                                                         UCP Marjon staff took time out of their busy day to support the Marine Conservation Team clean up the local City beach. This UK charity founded in 2002 is dedicated to caring for our seas, shores and wildlife. On the day the UCP Marjon team collected 11 bags of rubbish mainly consisting of confectionery wrappers, plastic containers and broken fishing lines brought in on the tide.

UCP Marjon Team Leader Sue Burns said “it’s a great opportunity to support a local marine charity, we are very fortunate to have such  wonderful beaches in Devon and Cornwall and we all must do our but to help protect the wildlife and preserve our coastlines”.

Management Team get painting for Relate

As part of the Plymouth Cares Challenge a senior team from UCP Marjon were tasked with sourcing a laptop, soft furnishings, lamps and beanbags for the room as well as painting the three rooms of the Relate Office on North Hill. Members of staff taking part include Principal Prof David Baker, Deputy Principal Geoff Stoakes, Director of Corporate Affairs Karen Cook, Director of Programmes Neil Casey, Acting Dean of Culture, Communication and Society Ruth Hubbard, Dean of Sport, Physical Education & Leisure Sam Peach, Dean of Education and Professional Development Cheryl Hardy and PA to the Principal Louise Sharland.

Relate doesn’t only deal with Counseling for couples, but also for families and individuals. They are also doing a lot of work with young people in Plymouth, including providing Drama therapy workshops and counseling to the children of asylum seekers who are seriously at risk of being sent back to their home countries.

Principal David Baker said “We are doing the Challenge because we want to help both the CARES initiative and Relate. We find these valuable events for team building purposes and as a way of showing that we are engaged with the community. Relate is one of a number of people-based institutions that we are very happy to support.”

Katie Edmondson from Plymouth Cares said “Another fantastic challenge for Marjon’s to get involved in, it will be great to see the management team get stuck into the task and give something back to their local community.”

Gone Fishing

Staff from UCP Marjon joined forces to clean the school pond at Eggbuckland Community College through Plymouth Cares. UCP Marjon were set the challenge of cleaning up the wetland area so that the pupils could once again benefit from studying the local pond inhabitance in their science lessons. Michelle Austin UCP Marjon said “Being part of a team that benefited a local school was really rewarding. We hope that the clean pond attracts lots of new species and that the children reap the rewards though practical science classes.”

Facelift for CHICKs
 
UCP Marjon staff volunteering day, painting and decorating the children’s dormitories as well as building a maze in the garden of the Devon respite home.
CHICKs (Country Holidays for Inner City Kids) is a registered charity which aims to provide as many disadvantaged children with the life enhancing experience of free respite breaks away in the countryside at centers in Devon and Cornwall. The team of UCP Marjon staff got to work on transforming the children’s bedrooms through a touch of paint and some clever artistic stenciling!
Outside in the rain the male volunteers erected a garden maze which consisted of knocking into the ground 200 fencing posts and lining the maze.
The day was extremely rewarding despite the blisters and paint fumes and UCP Marjon staff certainly felt this was a rewarding day and that they had made a difference to an organisation that gives so much.

Make over for Centre Courtyard
UCP Marjon Management Team take on Cares challenge at The Eating Disorder Support Centre in Plymouth. The support centre on the Barbican were keen to have its courtyard given a facelift and turned into an area for staff and clients to relax in.
The team from Marjon drew up plans to paint walls and add lots of container plants, wooden seating , bamboo screens, a water feature, a mirror framed with trellises and lots of pebbles and pots too. The team were helped by donations from business and individuals including Plymouth Garden Centre, B&Q in order to succeed in this creative challenge. Team leader Jeff Battersby said "We've thoroughly enjoyed this challenge, seeing the fruits of our labours and ideas transformed into reality."

Lecturers brighten up children's unit
A burst of aquatic colour has brought to like a Day Care unit in the city. Five UCP Marjon primary education lecturers have created 'under the sea' style murals to brighten up a children's day unit at Mount Gould. Kate Bray, Marjon's lecturer said "At Marjon we firmly believe education isn't just standing up in front of a class os students. We wanted to do something for young people and enjoyed the challege of transforming part of the children's unit at Mount Gould."

Staff paint, dig, remove weeds and litter to revamp beauty spot
A team of seven volunteers took part in a Plymouth Cares challenge to revamp Tothill Park. With help from Plymouth City Council, the staff took a day out of the registry department to tidy up the park. Pat McCann, grants officer with the Friends of Tothill Park said " We are very grateful to the staff at Marjon who have given their time to help in the ongoing process of regenerating Tothill Park."
Marjon team leader Jo Charlesworth said "The registry team was delighted to spare a few hours away from the office to undertake this challenge. It was great to be able to help so many individuals and groups who use the facilities of the park."