Office workers from the Harrogate branch of insurance broker, Bluefin, recently swapped their suits for jeans as they lent a hand gardening with Help at Home, the practical gardening and decorating service operated by the Harrogate Easier Living Project (HELP).
Two teams of colleagues each volunteered an afternoon of their time to weed and tidy local gardens, whose homeowners were struggling to keep on top of them. Together with the Help at Home team, the Bluefin volunteers helped to not only make the gardens look neater, they are now more manageable and safer for their elderly owners. The property owners were delighted with the results. One commented: “Thank you for helping me at a very difficult time. My garden looks fantastic!”
Bluefin’s support comes at a time when Help at Home is inundated with requests for gardening work from residents who, through ill health or disability, are unable to manage the work themselves. The charity attributes this increase in demand to the growing number of people living within their own homes without family or friends nearby to support them with practical jobs, such as gardening and DIY and without the means to pay for professional help.
Help at Home Co-ordinator, Christine Turner, thanked the Bluefin colleagues for their input. “We are a small team reliant on the help of volunteers to get the work done. Without Bluefin’s support, it would have taken us several days to tackle these gardens. Team Bluefin has demonstrated that many hands really do make light work!“
The practical volunteering offered by Bluefin is part of an overall pledge by the company to support HELP during 2016. The insurance broker has also shared its marketing expertise with the charity, recently advising them about the launch of their new web site and continues to support them.
Fiona Hill, Bluefin Commercial Team Manager, said: “We are really delighted to be able to make such a difference to the local community. It’s great to see how just a few hours work can bring such long-lasting results!”
