The in-house Studio in Virgin Money’s Marketing Department had been discussing ways to support the company’s EBO philosophy. So when a notice appeared on Ourspace about the Virgin Unite initiative to support Mandela Day, it seemed the perfect opportunity to swing into action.
The idea behind Mandela Day was to give 67 minutes to the community, to reflect the 67 years Nelson Mandela had given to his community. The actual day was July 18th, a date that was both Mandela’s 92nd birthday and Sir Richard Branson’s 60th. Sir Richard put a message on virgin.com asking people to mark the day by supporting Mandela Day.
As the 18th was a Sunday, the Studio team chose to give up their lunch break on Monday, to clean up the Lakenham Way public footpath, which runs from the Virgin Money building into the city. Armed with a selection of litter grabbers, gloves and plastic sacks, ten of us spent lunchtime with our arms, feet (and sometimes heads) in banks of nettles and brambles, picking up a few hundred discarded bottles and cans, plus a small mountain of general litter. It was hot (and occasionally prickly) work, but everyone managed to fill a sack.
The biggest item found on the day was a discarded shopping trolley, which we also managed to fill, with two deck chairs, a duvet, a tyre, and various other items too heavy for the bags. It was fulfilling to walk back to the office afterwards and see all the litter-free hedgerows on our way back, and a really memorable way to spend our Monday lunchtime and support Mandela Day.
Although team member Andy Bobbin couldn't join the Studio litter pick he inspired his family to participate at the weekend. Andy reports:
"We decided to collect rubbish from a conservation area in Wymondham called The Lizard. We collected 6 glass bottles, 14 drink cans, 15 plastic bottles, and a bag of assorted rubbish. We recycled all we could and binned the rest.
We all really enjoyed the walk and exercise and it felt good to know we were making where we live a nicer place to be. My daughter Esmé was very proud of her achievement when she went into school on Monday morning.
Hopefully this behaviour and attitude will become second nature to her as she grows up. We all agreed it's something we would like to give more time to in the future."