Staff from escorted tours specialist Trafalgar will be taking part in community schemes today to mark International Volunteer Day (IVD) 2019.
Since 2008, the company has offered staff members two paid volunteer days annually to support causes as part of Trafalgar’s commitment to social responsibility.
Events this week for staff during their paid volunteer time range from beach cleans, gift wrapping to dog walking and food drives.
It is estimated the staff will spend 24,000 hours doing paid volunteer work over the course of the year.
Gavin Tollman (pictured), Trafalgar’s chief executive, said: “Our goal is to Make Travel Matter so social responsibility and giving back to people, places and wildlife and the planet is part of our everyday, so allowing our teams to pursue their own passions through these volunteer days is crucial to this.
“We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to give back and by providing these paid days throughout the year, we are making it easy for our team to support their own causes, as individuals and as a group at a time that suits them.”
In the UK, staff are working with Thames21 to help stabilise an island on the Thames, by nailing hessian bags in place with wooden sticks in order to prevent the island from collapsing
In Sydney, Australia, the team packed food boxes and wrapped gifts for a charity.
Beach cleans are being carried out by colleagues in New Zealand, Mumbai and Cape Town, while in Toronto, staff have prepared Christmas essentials for a charity.
The California team served food and helped at a food back, while staff in Geneva helped pack food boxes and donated blood at a hospital.