In the first quarter of 2023 it’s been a close battle between our own volunteers and corporate groups on who could do the most hours of work out of the 2146-hour total. With a mixture of good weather, hybrid working and ‘the call of the wild’ we’ve had an influx of local employees wanting to come out and make a difference both as groups and as individuals.
The list of those that have been out covers a full spectrum of companies in Edinburgh including Abrdn, Ballie Gifford, Chase, CMS Law, Ping Identity, PWC, Studio LR, Siemen Games, Firefly, EDF renewables, Janus Henderson, LSEG , Lind & Lime Gin, Blackrock, Ventient Energy, the Scottish Government and Copenhagen Offshore.
With 13 miles of river and walkway that we care for they’ve been getting the full experience of our volunteering and allowing us to expand out and do areas that we don’t normally having time for. For example, the Environmental Quality & Resilience Division of Scottish Government restoring the setts around the island at the Quilts, Leith.
Abrdn raised the canopy along Arboretum Avenue which was so low it was hard to use the full width for those heading to Inverleith Park.
Bailie Gifford making the railings at Redhall a fresh shade of black instead of rusty green
And of course, Chase giving us the extra hands to deal with the influx of feathers along the walkway after the Harry Styles concert
For many years people had to wait until they were retired to find the time outside of evening & weekends to get involved locally. Thus, it’s been energising to have a new generation of volunteers coming as part of their working day with many companies providing between 1 –3 days allowance as part of their social corporate responsibility.
Thus, if you’d like to come out get in touch with our volunteering team at [email protected] either to come out as an individual to join in with one of our regular conservation mornings that happen 10.30am – 1pm somewhere on the river. Alternatively bring your whole team and a purchase a bespoke conservation session allowing us the time to show off the special spots on the river and tailor the work to the group. More details can be found here; – https://www.waterofleith.org.uk/corporate-groups
