Volunteering

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Community Connection

At Marlborough, we recognise the importance of volunteering and are passionate about giving back to the communities in which we serve and to wider society. Our people are continually involved in meaningful initiatives across London, Essex and beyond, with litter picks, tree planting days, school engagement sessions, conservation projects, and foodbank volunteering amongst the good work that we are involved in.

Supported Volunteering Programme

Our Supported Volunteering Programme entitles our people to two additional days paid leave a year to support a charity or community organisation. Open to all employees on completion of their probation, managers and supervisors actively encourage their teams to get involved. With a programme of volunteering opportunities available through Marlborough’s dedicated Social Value team, employees can either take part in company arranged events, or seek out their own initiatives, which are often close to their hearts.

Personal Development

Volunteering not only provides a wonderful opportunity to give back, but it also allows participants to enhance their personal and professional development. This is why we applaud all those colleagues who take part in community volunteering, and ensure they are celebrated and given the recognition that they deserve.

Supporting a Variety of Good Causes

In 2023, Marlborough employees clocked an impressive 708 hours of supported volunteering. As well as assisting our local authority clients with their own volunteering initiatives, we supported a wide range of fantastic independent organisations. This included Beckton Creekside, Braintree District Mencap, the Conservation Volunteers, the Garden Classroom, the Hamelin Trust, Harold Hill Foodbank, Home-Start Camden & Islington, Home-Start Essex, the One Love Project, Southend Foodbank and many more.

Recent Initiatives

Age UK, London Borough of Camden

We hosted an Easter Party for service users of Age UK Camden at the charity’s Henderson Court Day Care Centre in Hampstead. The day started with Marlborough volunteers welcoming elderly service users and helping them with their breakfast, before a range of activities took place including games, flower arranging, and biscuit decorating. Our people then cooked and served a three-course meal, with tomato soup to start, roast lamb for main, and a hot cross bun bread and butter pudding for dessert. The service users and Marlborough volunteers dined together, providing a lovely opportunity to socialise and to forge new friendships.

Morning Star Nursery, London Borough of Haringey

Our people delivered a road safety workshop for two classes at the Morning Star Nursery in the London Borough of Haringey, which is right next to where Marlborough had been conducting footway work on Forster Road. During the session, the 30 children, who are aged between three and five, were reminded about the importance of holding an adult’s hand when crossing the road. They were also taught the STOP, LOOK, LISTEN THINK rule, encouraging them to look both ways to make sure it is safe to cross before doing so. Wearing mini hi-vis vests, the children then had the opportunity to practice their road crossing skills by using a mock crossing that we created for them in the playground.

Mencap, Southend-on-Sea

Our Social Value team organised a volunteering day at a residential home run by Southend Mencap. This fantastic charity helps people with learning disabilities, in and around Southend-on-Sea, providing expert care and support to those who need it most. During the valuable session at Mellor House, Marlborough colleagues decorated the property’s dining room, which is used by the residents every day. As well as sanding and prepping the space, the volunteers painted the room, leaving it bright, fresh and rejuvenated.

What Our Volunteer Partner Organisations Say

“Thank you to Marlborough Highways for your ongoing support of Hackney Children and Baby Bank. Your support ensures that we can continue our mission of assisting families in need, providing essential items for their children. Thank you for being a valuable partner in our efforts to make a positive impact in our community.”
Jane Simpson, Hackney Children and Baby Bank

“Both the times that Marlborough Highways have volunteered you have absolutely blown us away, so thank you for having such great energy and understanding of our families’ challenges.”
Naomi Smith, Chief Executive Officer, Home-Start Camden & Islington

What our Marlborough volunteers say

"It was a lovely day with Marlborough covering the cost of different activities and laying on a three-course meal cooked by the company. For me, the most rewarding part was just to give time to the elderly users of the day centre, so they had someone different to talk to. The staff at the centre were great but had jobs to do, but we had time to sit, talk and play, which I think meant a lot to them."

Geoff Halsey, Marlborough Volunteer, Age UK

"It was an excellent opportunity to volunteer in the community where I work. It has really opened my eyes to the social value work we do across the organisation."

Olivia Harrison, Marlborough Volunteer, Southend Mencap

"My volunteering session was a rewarding experience, which made a real difference, and demonstrated the value of community engagement. I am proud that our efforts had a positive impact on the lives of others, and it reminds me that even the smallest acts of kindness can create meaningful change."

Libu Abraham, Marlborough Volunteer, Home-Start Camden & Islington

Get in Touch

Do you work for a charity or other community organisation? Are you seeking volunteers? Then get in touch with our Social Value team to find out how Marlborough can support you. Nula, Anna and Poppy are on hand to talk about how we can help.

They’re particularly interested in volunteering opportunities that take place in the communities we serve, with a list of our operational locations available on our website. Whether it’s a one-off event or a long-term scheme, we want to support you with projects big and small.

“One of the things I value most is their very collaborative and transparent team culture. It makes a big difference to have a contractor that wants to work closely with us and is supportive and responsive. With Marlborough, I get a team who are attentive, work collaboratively and honestly with me and don’t lose focus on delivering first class communications and compliance.”

Carly Norris, Project Manager Operations, Hackney Council

“From the design stage, Marlborough has been fundamental in delivering the Broad Lane Square improvements scheme. During the works, not only did the team manage to keep to the programme, but they went the extra mile to ensure attention to detail and came up with innovative solutions to address issues encountered on site. My thanks on behalf of Haringey goes out to Marlborough for their dedication to deliver.”

Dana Rasheed, Project Manager, Haringey Council

“Working alongside our Term Service Contractor Marlborough Highways, we successfully completed renovations to the Crowstone Footbridge. The designs were provided by Marlborough, and the work was unique. The scheme was completed to budget and ahead of its programme duration.”

Neil Handley, Senior Engineer, Southend-on-Sea City Council

“I would like to thank you and your team for your efforts, the Marlborough crews were professional, courteous, and hard working all day and ensured the event went without a hitch. You and the team were a credit to the company, demonstrating commitment and support to the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham.”

Nick Davies, Specialist Services Manager, Barking and Dagenham Council

“I just wanted to say what a pleasure it has been to work with Marlborough Highways over the last six months. The quality of work is superb, and there has been some excellent collaboration between Milestone and Marlborough to complete, what at times, has been quite a challenging scheme. I hope to work with Marlborough on another project in the near future.”

Colin Hill, Schemes Manager, Milestone Infrastructure

“Marlborough worked with us in constructing a 1.3km cycle track. There were a number of technical difficulties to overcome, and their gifted foreman worked to propose some innovative solutions to the challenges we faced. The result is a facility that the locals are proud of, providing walkers and cyclists with alternative access to the hospital and nearby school. The scheme was a lot of hard work, but well worth it.”

Rob Venables, NEC Project Manager, Essex County Council

“Marlborough attracts people who take care and have pride in their work. Several gangs of Operatives worked tirelessly for six months to reconstruct drainage networks, lay more than 3km of high quality bespoke granite kerbs and granite channels blocks to ensure positive drainage. The technical compliance, attention to detail and level of quality finish along the entire carriageway was exceptional”.

Mark Chiverrell, Technical Director, Project Centre

“We saw huge benefits in appointing Marlborough as our full service contractor and we’re impressed – they’ve delivered consistent high quality service and superior quality control across every project. Marlborough, provide us with a ‘one-stop’ shop solution – we get the same quality of service and better control across all aspects of the project.”

Darren Bryant, Principal Engineer, Enfield Council