One of the things that really came into focus during lockdown was the importance of community; being a part of our community, supporting and giving back to our community.
After lockdown was over, Amazon Filters connected with local organisation Community Matters Partnership to see how we could give a little more to our community.
We talked through the kinds of projects we'd like to work on, and pretty soon we were ready to tackle our first community opportunity! We were going to work on Reg's Community Garden, a food farm and community garden in our area.
Reg was the Station Master at Farnborough North on the North Downs Line for many years and lived in the house adjacent to the line and level crossing. On his death he bequeathed his large garden to his children, and the Farnborough Street Residents' Association set up a group to look after it.
A series of plans for the garden were produced before lockdown, galvanising a number of local volunteers to help out. Sadly Covid-19 blocked their path. However, a few people worked on an individual basis to keep the project going. They converted pallets into planters and picket fencing. They installed a couple of planters outside the gate to the garden, and crafted fencing to separate the community garden from the community food farm area.
Much remained to be done, though. And that is where CMPP came in. They asked us if we'd be interested in helping out to progress the project, and we said Yes. So in March a team of volunteers from all across Amazon Filters headed to Farnborough, dressed to deliver results!
We had a really productive and rewarding day - read what our team of volunteers had to say when they got back.
Alexandra: Thank you so much for organising today. I really enjoyed it!!! And I would highly recommend it. It was so much fun and I loved working with people from other departments at Amazon.
Karl: What a great day we had at our first Community day at Reg’s Garden in Farnborough, working alongside the volunteers and the hands on, organised CMPP team. The day's targets included laying some patio, creating a stage, digging and tidying parts of the garden and putting up fencing, which was carried out by all the small teams with great enthusiasm with some superb results achieved. It was a pleasure to take part and see everyone giving their all for this brilliant community project which provides an open space for children to play or people just to sit and relax.
Zuzana: It was such a lovely community work, the locals have done such a great job (we saw the before and after). Everyone was so nice, it felt like building something with a family rather than with strangers, we all knew our purpose, we were naturally well organised, and we got the job done! I’d definitely be up for another one, and I will visit these gardens with my friends to show them what we have done 😊
Darren: I had a wonderful day volunteering at Reg’s Garden in Farnborough, everyone was very friendly and welcoming. We also learnt a bit of history behind Reg’s Garden too!
Shaun: I wasn’t too sure what to expect but as soon as I arrived, I was greeted by some lovely ladies who were happy and smiling, which put me at ease straight away 😊 The whole experience was fun and entertaining and felt it was a great team building exercise. Memories were created, roll on more of these volunteer days 😎
Matt: I thoroughly enjoyed the charity event, would highly recommend this for others who are thinking about doing this to do it! I will definitely being volunteering again. It’s an excellent way to give back to the community and to feel a sense of pride and purpose being a part of something like this.
All of the members from the RSFA and CMPP were amazing, very friendly and took the time to introduce and tell us a bit about themselves, as well as what the charity does and how it came to be.
For me this wasn’t just about the volunteering but was also an excellent team building opportunity, and perfect way to get to know and interact with other people, and colleagues from different departments better, that you wouldn’t normally get to see or work with. I hope Amazon carries this on in the future so that everybody can get involved.
Roger & Michael: The day went very well, there was a clear goal in mind and the people representing Amazon from different departments worked in harmony with one another. There was lots of refreshment on offer and the day was really enjoyable. We would definitely sign up for this again.
We're looking forward to working on more projects in partnership with CMPP - in the meantime, enjoy some pictures from our day!